. 






* 


























►>■ <y> 




















• '-<*""' 


■ 




O 








a ^ 







A ^ 


















» .^' 










'% 

























%- ' 



; 







•$• «,' 



s, 



V </> 









% 









lip 






^ v* 



•>v 



^ 



A* 













» 9 , A * ^ 



n^ \ 












.-tf 



\ ^ 



^ v° 



^ '* 






"V 



-^ 



V 






%< 






,0o. 









> ^ 












THE 

GUIDING HAND: 



PROVIDENTIAL DIRECTION 



ILLUSTKATED BY 



AUTHENTIC INSTANCES, 



6 



RECORDED AND COLLECTED 

BY H. L. HASTINGS, 

f i 
EDITOR OF THE CHRISTIAN. 



7h 



BOSTON: 

SCRIPTURAL TRACT REPOSITORY, 

H. L. HASTINGS, 47 CORNHILL. 
1881. 






Copyright, 1881, 
H. L. HASTINGS, 

BOSTON, MASS, 




Repository Press, 49 Cornhill. 



PREFACE. 



One fact is worth two arguments ; and the incidents recorded in this 
volume are offered as facts. It is true that some of them are given 
anonymously, having been gathered up during years of desultory 
reading, from sources so varied that it has been sometimes impossible 
to authenticate or ascertain the authorship of a particular account ; 
but a very considerable portion of the instances here recorded ha ve 
occurred within the experience and observation of the writer, or that 
of his own personal friends and acquaintances. Others are given 
upon the most trustworthy authority, hence, many of these accounts 
are known to be true, and all are believed to be worthy of credence. 

Called, in the providence of God, to the establishment and direc- 
tion of a religious periodical, the writer determined, while rigidly 
excluding the pious fictions and lying wonders that defile the denom- 
inational literature of the age, to make the recital of authentic 
instances of God's gracious dealings with his children, a leading 
point of interest in its columns. Accordingly from January, 1866, 
each number of The Christian issued, has carried to the tens of 
thousands of its readers, accounts of answers to prayer, instances 
of providential direction, and tokens of the constant and gracious 
leading of God's Guiding Hand. 

Many of these accounts, thus given to the public, have been copied 
into other journals, reprinted in tracts and widely scattered, and inserted 
in books by various compilers. They are now collected and arranged for 
publication in a series of volumes entitled, %i The Guiding Hand," 
" Tales of Trust," " Ebenezers, or Records of Prevailing Prayer," etc. ; 
the labor of classifying and arranging them having been kindly 
undertaken by my fellow- worker, Wolcott P. Smith, without whose 
aid their issue must have been deferred till a more convenient season. 

The first of these books is here presented, with the confident 
assurance that it will minister strength to trusting hearts, and prove 
a help and comfort to tossed and troubled souls. 

(3) 



4 PREFACE. 

\Ye dc not offer these incidents because we think it a new, or 
strange, or wonderful thing that God should manifest his care for 
his people, or guide the footsteps of his little flock ; but we simply 
follow the example of one who said, "Come and hear, all ye that 
fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." Psalm 
lxvi. 16. 

If there are those who regard these accounts a.s too marvelous for 
belief, they are referred to the Holy Scriptures for other instances, 
many of which are far more astonishing than those here narrated. 
If, on the other hand, they doubt those wonders wrought of God in 
the far off ages, as recorded in his word, we lay before them these 
accounts, as instances of events continually occurring, through the 
wonder-working power of the ever living and ever loving God. 

The literature of ancient Israel was full of the records of the 
mighty deeds of Him who wrought wonders in the land of Egypt, 
who divided the sea by his strength, and who went before his chosen 
ones, giving them manna from on high, and water from the smitten 
rock, defending and delivering them, and providing for all their 
wants. 

" For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in 
Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them 
known to their children ; that the generation to come might know 
them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and 
declare them to their children ; that they might set their hope in God, 
and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments." 
Ps. lxxviii. 5-7. 

In like manner, it is meet that we make mention of the mercies of 
the Lord to us, that our children may learn to trust him, and in an 
age of doubt and unbelief, submit themselves to the guidance of 
the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. 

That this and the other volumes of the " Faith Series" may be 
blessed to the profit of the sons of men, and lead them to " set their 
hope in God, and not forget his works," is the prayer of 

The Author. 

Scriptural Tract Repository, 
Office of The Christian, Boston, Mass., U. S. A., 
August, 1881. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 



Page. 



PART I. 

Relief and Deliver ance 15 

PART II. 
Dreams and Impressions ICO 

PART III. 
Conversions 1185 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 

Page 



A Blessed Mistake * 344 

A Blessed Psalm* 60 

Account of Mr. Studly 121 

A Child's Text ,..361 

A College and its President* 332 

A Fearful Ride*. . . 202 

A Hymn in a Tavern* .305 

A Life Saved Through a Tract 94 

A Memory of Wyoming 163 

Ann Young's Text 34 

A Pastor's Story* 41 

A Poor Cottager 271 

A Providential Visit 70 

A Rabbit Chase 345 

Are Tracts Wasted? 137 

A Sleep— and What Came of it*. . .320 

A Star in the Crown 381 

A Starving Widow Fed 129 

A Strange Opening 339 

A Stray Bible 348 

A Stream in the Desert 293 

A S uicide Prevented 306 

A Timely Alarm* 115 

A Timely Visit 53 

A Word in Season 376 

Begging Bread* 198 

Brands Plucked from the Fire 328 

Bread upon the Waters 352 

Captain Britwell's Dream 195 

Captain Fanning's Deliverance 280 

Captain Harris.. 245 

Collins and the Funeral 341 

Conversion of Count Gasparin 346 

Crossing the Lake 92 

Captain Yomu's Dream 209 

Deliverances* 17 

Deliverance from Despair 214 

Deliverance of James Meikle 87 

Divine Retribution 185 

Dr. Bond's Vision 165 

Elizabeth Walker and the Judge. . 99 

Father Harding's Convert*. 372 

Fleming's Prophetic Warning*... 177 

Gobat and the Hyenas 113 

" Go to Rotterdam " 247 

" Go to the Post Office "* 244 

Guidance in Giving* 266 

Help in Distress* 277 

Howe and the Magistrate 336 

Juxta Crucem 382 

Liberty for a Captive 366 

Money from a Miser 86 

Prayer for a Candle 174 

Praying and Dueling 109 

Pray over them 313 

Presentiments 187 

Preserved by a Raven 106 

Providences in Bible Translation*. 118 

Providence Above Law 241 

Providence and Law 134 

Providential Illness 33 

Provision for Caleb 210 

Richard Boardman's Deliverance. . 185 
Saved from a Robber by Rain 80 



Page. 

Senator Linn's Rescue 154 

Song in the Night 283 

Take Care of Him 207 

Tennent's Deliverance 141 

The Awakened Student* 2G4 

The Bill and the Butterfly 69 

The Bullet in the Bible 98 

The Burning Parsonage 237 

The Captive's Release 130 

The Circle of Fire 171 

The Czar and the Psalm* 287 

The Drowning Lady 257 

The Dyke-man's Deliverance 158 

The Engineer's Premonition .229 

The Explosion* 259 

The Falling Chimney 52 

The First A wakened 324 

The First load of Wood 82 

The Flying Engine* . 272 

The Frightened Robbers 351 

The Gold-digging Rat Ill 

The Heaven-built Wall 132 

The Imperiled Child 251 

The Infidel and the Pirates 369 

The Lady and the Robber* 26 

The Light-colored Coat* 298 

The Little Anchor* 47 

The Lock of Hair 104 

The Lord's Leading 138 

The Lost Book and Saved Sinner . 364 

The Lost Deeds 186 

The Mastodon's Bones* 81 

The Minister and the Sick Girl*... .360 
The Mohammedan Book-binder. . 349 

The Mysterious Unkindness. 356 

The Old Flint lock 84 

The Packed Trunk. . . 278 

The Pertinent Text 314 

The Prisoner of Glatz 66 

The Railway Interview 303 

The Reprieve 231 

The Rescue 107 

The Saved Railway Train* 239 

The Scattered Tracts 308 

The Shipwrecked Crew 213 

The Skeptic and the Bird's Nest. . .326 

The Speechless Ones* 224 

The Suicide and her Bible 378 

The Suicide Saved 120 

The Timely Ebb tide 117 

The Tom Hymn. 3G2 

The Tract and the Oyster 377 

The Wayside Bethel* 315 

The Wedding Robe * 152 

The Wet Grist* 71 

The Widow's Praver Answered*. . .235 

The Widow's Wood* 248 

The Young Deliverer 74 

Thomas Hownham 191 

Thomas Williams' Escape 56 

Treasures Hid in the Sand* 90 

Wesley and his Persecutors 161 

What a Fly Did 879 

Who Rung that Bell? 96 



The articles designated by a star (*) were written expressly for The Christian, 



INTRODUCTION. 



There are no arguments like facts ; and God's 
providences are facts. Ten thousand voices from 
the past proclaim them to the world, and ten thou- 
sand voices from the living present echo and indorse 
the proclamation. And this evidence is cumulative. 
If every trace and record of God's providences up 
to this day were instantly blotted out and forgotten, 
new facts would be developed to-morrow, and living 
men and women would at once arise and testify to 
fresh experiences of the gracious guidance of the 
unseen hand of God. 

There are persons who see nothing of the kind, — 
so there are men who hunt, and fish, and starve, for 
generations, seeing nothing but poverty and want 
around them, until some stranger comes and finds 
gold and silver and iron and gems beneath their 
feet ; drops seeds into the earth, and makes the 
desert smile ; and skirts the arrowy water-course 
with shops and mills, where streams that have been 
idle for ages, are taught to do the work of tens of 
thousands of men. 

Shall the red savage, who has hunted over the 



O INTRODUCTION. 

region for years, and seen nothing, and found noth- 
ing, but minks and muskrats, set up his ignorance 
and blindness against the higher wisdom of the 
stranger, who, with a single glance, saw mines and 
mills, lields and fruits, as with an anointed eye, and 
knew that they were all sure to come ? Then let the 
worldling, buried in his vain pursuits, set his igno- 
rance against the experience of those who have tasted 
that the Lord is gracious, and proved that his prom- 
ises are true. 

But the men who utterly deny God's providences 
are very few. Let the subject come up in a spirit of 
inquiry in almost any company, and instantly some 
one or more will have their story to tell, of some 
wonderful fact which they have witnessed, experi- 
enced, or received from unquestionable authority, 
illustrating the general subject of supernatural direc- 
tion, and providential care. And he who will note 
and gather up such scattered incidents, whether 
related by those around him, or . recorded in the 
writings of the candid and devout in all ages, will 
find a mine of precious facts which he can neither 
exhaust nor explore. And he who will seek in 
patience and in prayer to know and do the will of 
God, will most likely soon find for himself facts in 
his own experience which will set his own mind 
forever at rest. 

It is objected by some that the accounts given of 
providential interposition are too marvelous to be 
believed ; that they must be mere fiction, the product 
of imaginative minds and the beguilement of idle 



INTRODUCTION . V 

hours. But if vie reject modern accounts of God's 
providences, what shall we do with the more ancient 
records ? No book is so crowded with such matter 
as the book of God. Shall we reject the accounts of 
more recent experiences because they faintly resem- 
ble in their character the records which inspiration 
has preserved ? It is true that the Scriptures warn 
us against the deceptions of Satanic craft, and the 
"lying wonders" wrought by his aid and direction. 
But does not this warning imply that there are true 
wonders, and that we are to distinguish between 
them? If, when the canon of Scripture was closed, 
it had been ordained that all instances of miraculous 
or supernatural interposition should from that hour 
forever cease, how easy w r ould it have been to have 
said, "This book contains a record of the wonders 
which God has wrought from the creation of the 
world; it must be believed and received; but any 
person who shall hereafter testify that God still hears 
prayer, works wonders, or directs the steps of his 
people, is to be regarded as an enthusiast or an 
impostor, and any account which relates events and 
facts resembling those recorded here, is to be rejected 
as unworthy of belief." Such a caution as this would 
have for ever relieved Christians from all fear or 
danger of deception or mistake. But no such caution 
was given ; on the contrary, as if He who had worked 
wonders hitherto would still work them on the behalf 
of his word and his church, men were warned against 
the false, implying that there was also something 
true to be expected and received. 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

The current thought that miracles and wonders 
belong exclusively to a by-gone age, seems hardly 
worthy of a reply. Where~is the proof of such an 
assertion ? Has the Almighty changed ? Does not 
"eveiy good gift and every perfect gift*' still come 
down from the Father of lights, with whom, — how- 
ever man and earthly things may change, — "there is 
no parallax nor shadow of turning" ? "The same 
yesterday, to-day, and forever," — -is His arm short- 
ened, or has His promise failed? Do not all His 
words read as they did of old? And is not man the 
same ? Was not Elias ' ' a man subject to like passions 
as we are " ? And did not his prayer shut heaven above 
rebellious Israel, by the space of three years and 
six months, until "he prayed again, and the heavens 
gave rain j and the earth brought forth her fruit"? 

No, with the same God, and the same Saviour, and 
the same Holy Spirit, and the same gospel, and the 
same promises, and the same sinful humanity, where 
is the change ? Of old there was failure, and a single 
demon defeated the doubting disciples and held his 
victim till Christ came down from the mountain and 
delivered him. And now, as then, the working of 
the Holy One is limited by the faithlessness of the 
sons of men, so that over many a lifeless church and 
city it may be said to-day, "And he could there do 
no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a 
few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled 
because of their unbelief." Mark vi. 5, 6. "And he 
did not many mighty works there, because of their 
unbelief: 9 Malt. xiii. 58. 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

A doubting, caviling generation shuts itself away 
from the fullness of divine blessing. For them the 
sun shines, but they have blinded their eyes. For 
them the rain descends, but their vessels are closed 
against it, — the blessing is ready, but they refuse to 
receive it, and frustrate the ^raee of God. 

A word of solemn caution is due to those who 
seek the aid and guidance of the Holy Spirit. " Be- 
loved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits 
whether they are of God : because many false proph- 
ets are gone out into the world." 

The office of the Holy Spirit does not seem to be 
to create or impart new powers of mind or body, 
but rather to remedy defects, and repair the ruin 
wrought by sin. Man is a wreck, disordered and 
diseased; the Holy Spirit " helpeth our infirmities." 

Memory, though a natural gift, becomes impaired ; 
the Holy Spirit brings all things to remembrance. 
Conscience is a natural gift, but it becomes seared or 
perverted ; the Holy Spirit purges and quickens it, 
and convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judg- 
ment. Speech is a natural gift, but the Holy Spirit 
loosens the stammering tongue, and even bestows 

O ~ 7 

ability so that men speak with new tongues as the 
Spirit gives them utterance. The healthful human 
body may, by contact with the sick, sometimes 
impart strength, or vital force, and thus alleviate 
pain, the giver being weakened, as the receiver is 
strengthened, by the process ; but when the Holy 
Spirit fills a man with gifts of power and healing, 
then divine energies work such wonders and cures 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

as mere human power can never approach or imitate. 

So, also, there are persons who are naturally sensi- 
tive to unseen influences, and able to discern distant 
trouble, and foreknow coming danger, being gifted 
with a sort of prophetic instinct, which may be 
debased by vice or blunted by neglect, but which 
may be improved by culture, and specially quick- 
ened and exalted by the presence of the Holy Ghost. 

Thus divine manifestations are possible. They are 
made through the channels of human thought and 
feeling, for man himself with all his powers is 
God's creature, and should in every faculty of his 
being respond to the moving of the Holy Ghost, as 
harp-strings thrill beneath the harper's hand. 

Well knowing the importance of these manifesta- 
tions, Satan seeks by his fascinations, spiritual mani- 
festations, and psychological juggleries, to jumble and 
confound all things, human and divine, sacred and 
profane, decent and devilish, in one indistinguishable 
mass. And as all these manifestations have points of 
likeness, since man is the subject of the whole, with 
devilish art the precious and the vile are commin- 
gled till all are received or all are rejected together. 
The most terrible and disgraceful fanaticisms have 
thus sprung up among honest but incautious souls, 
who, while professing to be lead by the Holy Spirit, 
have been swayed by the influence of erring men, or 
have found a lower depth of demoniac thrall and been 
"led captive by Satan at his will," till they have dis- 
honored the Lord, and brought reproach on his cause, 
leading others to deny all divine guidance, reject 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

the Holy Spirit, and sink into formalism and death. 

The only safety from these wiles of the devil is 
found in the most strict and conscientious adherence 
to the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. The Holy 
Spirit is not given to supersede revelation or encour- 
age laziness. To ask direction of the Holy Ghost in 
matters expressly commanded or forbidden by the 
Holy Scriptures, savors more of impertinence than 
of piety. But while the directions of the Scriptures 
are unalterably correct as a guide, and infallibly true 
as a touch-stone and criterion by which to examine 
and decide the true character of our mental and spir- 
itual exercises, of course a book of general precepts 
and principles can never give specific directions to 
meet the special and personal duties of each individ- 
ual Christian. Hence the necessity for additional 
direction; and here we find room for the guidance of 
the Holy Spirit. 

The Acts of the apostles abound with instances of 
this direction. "The Spirit said unto Philip, Go 
near and join thyself to this chariot; and Philip ran 
thither to him ;" and by that act he sent the gospel 
unchallenged into the heart of Ethiopia, and into the 
very palace of the Queen. Acts viii. 29, 30. The 
Spirit said to Peter, "Behold, three men seek 
thee ; ... go with them, doubting nothing, for I 
have sent them ;" and the gospel was thus carried 
to the house of Cornelius of Caesarea. Acts x. 1!), 
20. "The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas 
and Saul for the work whereunto I have called 
them; .... so they, being sent forth by the 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia." Acts xiii. 2-4. 

Now in all these cases, and in others like them, 
of course it could not be expected that written 
directions would be given in the Bible for the guid- 
ance of the servants of the Lord. The general 
precept was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature ;" but we read that 
when Paul and Silas at one time "were forbidden 
of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia," 
"they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit 
suffered them not ;" while on the other hand, to the 
cry, "Come over into Macedonia, and help us," they 
were enabled to render an immediate response. Acts 
xvi. 6, 7, 9. And when thus called and directed by 
the Holy Ghost, all things conspired to favor their 
progress, and instead of tacking and beating, "loosing 
from Troas," they "came with a straight course to 
Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis." 

Thus times and places and opportunities for Chris- 
tian service are often pointed out to the child of 
God. And while those who ask for the teaching of 
the Holy Ghost as an excuse for disregarding the 
written Word, or to pry into secrets concealed by the 
Lord, deserve and may expect disappointment and 
deception, those who cling closely to that Word as 
the man of their counsel, and ask of God the wis- 
dom which they lack, will find to their joy that he 
will guide the meek in judgment and teach the meek 
his way, and can say with the Psalmist, "Thou 
shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward 
receive me to glory." 



THE GUIDING HAND. 



RELIEF AND DELIVERANCE. 



' ' The Lord preserveth the strangers ; he relieveth 

THE FATHERLESS AND WIDOW." Ps. CXlvi. 9. 

" Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear 
him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their 
soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine." 
Ps. xxxiii. 18, 19. 

"Thou art my hiding-place; thou shalt preserve me 
from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs 

OF DELIVERANCE." Ps. XXXii. 7. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 



BELIEF AND DELIVERANCE, 



DELIYEEAXCES. 

Ill the spring of 1848, a young lady of eighteen 
years hade good-bye to father, mother, brothers and 
sisters, and turned her face from her quiet home, in 
the southern part of Vermont, taking the stage 
across the Green Mountains for Troy, thence jour- 
neying by rail to Buffalo, and there taking the 
steamboat on Lake Erie, intending to visit her 
friends in the West. Filled with youthful hopes, 
buoyant with activity, and health, and bloom, and 
beauty, nothing in all her previous mountain life had 
ever seemed so productive of joy and happiness, as 
the incidents of this first journey from home. 

The boat from Buffalo did not stop at the place of 
her destination, and accordingly she landed at the 
nearest lake-port, Barcelona, ten miles distant from 
R., where her friends resided whom she had thought 
to visit first on her western trip. 

A mere circumstance, however, had nearly pre- 
vented her leaving the steamer at Barcelona. She 

(17) 



18 THE GUIDING HAND. 

had intended to visit other kindred further west, in 
Michigan, and a youthful company of associates on 
board the steamer, who had with her spent the time 
in singing and gay conversation, pressed her earnestly 
to go on with them. But an inward impression, that 
could not easily be resisted, urged her to leave the 
boat at Barcelona. She decided to listen to the 
constraining voice, and bidding her gay companions 
adieu, she disembarked and visited her friends. 

A warm and joyful welcome awaited the young 
traveler at R., where, during a pleasant tarry of one 
year, and while engaged in teaching a school, she, 
when the community was enjojnnga season of revival, 
became a disciple of Him who once pressed a sailor's 
pillow, but showed a Saviour's love, and manifested 
a Creator's power. 

But alas for her fellow-voyagers ! How uncertain 
is human life ! This ill-fated steamer was laden with 
travelers who were destined, most of them, never to 
see the places toward which they were journeying. 
Only five hours after Miss S. was set ashore in safety 
at Barcelona, the boat, w T hile proceeding on up the 
lake, took fire, and in spite of the almost super- 
human efforts made to save her, was burned to the 
water's edge, — nearly all on board, with the excep- 
tion of three or four persons, perishing either in the 
flames or by drowning in the lake. Many a home 
was desolate from that sad ni^ht when the lake was 
lit up with the flames of the burning steamer, and 
many a weeping eye looked out long but vainly for 
the faces of dear ones who never came again. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 19 

But Miss S. escaped. She obeyed the leadings of 
the Guiding Hand, and thus was saved ; saved by a 
single moment's decision, only live hours from a 
terrible death; saved to find Christ, the sinner's best 
Friend, and go back to her father's home glad in the 
Redeemer's love. Such was the providence of God 
in her deliverance ; and though many years have 
passed away, she to this day retains a vivid recollec- 
tion of that narrow escape from death on board the 
doomed Griffith, and thankfully herein records, by 
our hand, the story of her deliverance. 

About the time the above events occurred near 
lake Erie, a young man, who had early given his 
heart to God and consecrated himself to the work of 
the ministry, in company with three Christian breth- 
ren, was crossing a portion of lake Champlam, lying 
between two islands, where the waves ran high and 
threatening, and the winds blew fiercely. The boat, 
which carried them safely over, seemed held together 
by a miracle, for it was old and leaky, requiring to 
be bailed every minute ; and it was so rotten, that it 
went to pieces on the shore within two days after- 
wards, splitting in twain as it lay idle. He was out 
on one of his first missions tj lost men, and God 
beheld the danger, and shielded the boat's crew from 
peril on the angry and turbulent waters. 

Thus the lives of two persons, at that period 
utterly unknown to each other, were spared from 
untimely destructions, afterwards to meet and become 
" one flesh " at the altar, and share together the joys 
and sorrows incident to all who are on life's voyage 



20 THE GUIDING HAND. 

in the same boat, bound for the haven of endless 
rest beyond these mortal shores. Happy will they 
be if this voyage ends Ave 11. 

Some few years after these eA r ents, in the year 
185-, Avhile this clergyman and his Avife Avere on 
their Avay from the city of Boston to Vermont, 
whither they had been summoned to attend at the 
bedside of a sick parent, they had tog-ether a veiy 
narrow escape from violent and instant death. Reach- 
ing by railroad the Adllage of B., at which place they 
arrived at nightfall, intending to take the stage to 

W , some twenty-five miles, they had already 

alighted from the cars, handed their checks to the 
stage-driver, and passing round to the opposite side 
of the depot, sprang into the stage, congratulating 
themselves and each other on having secured the 
hinder seat, as being the most comfortable for the 
endurance of the- long night ricje among the moun- 
tains. But scarcely Avere they seated in fancied 
security, and Avhile Avaiting for the appearance of the 
driver, when the four horses attached to the cum- 
brous vehicle, becoming frightened by the appear- 
ance of the locomotive, with one leap broke the 
tie-strap with which they were fastened to the post 
iii the platform, and commenced running away. 
With no one at hand to arrest them, the two sole 
occupants of the stage were scarcely aware for a few 
moments that, locked in behind the heavy leathern 
bar, and Avith the stage doors closed, they were en- 
tirely at the mercy of the frightened steeds. Plung- 
ing forward, the brutes turned their heads toward 



THE GUIDING HAND. 21 

the river, making a sharp curve to enable them to 
head t .ward the north, and so pass up over the 
bridge into the village. No guard or fence pro- 
tected the river bank, and with increasing speed 
the fugitives dragged their helpless victims after 
them with no power to resist, while the chance of 
clearing the danger and making the curve between 
the depot and the Connecticut appeared very small, 
and the danger very great. Escape for a few mo- 
ments seemed hopeless. Who shall describe the 
feelings of those thus exposed to such imminent peril? 
To leap from the flying stage was fraught with jeop- 
ardy ; to remain in it, was to court death. And 
then, would the horses escape the steep bank of the 
river? The bank at this place was twenty feet high, 
and the water twenty feet deep. Only a few nights 
previously, as they were afterwards told, a man had 
driven his team over the bank, and was drowned. 
A space of but ten rods of ground was all that inter- 
vened. Two rods or less from the precipitous bank, 
and running parallel with it, lay a section of the old 
railway, with the iron rails still fastened to the 
decayed ties. While passing the bend of the curve, 
and under full speed, the wheels struck the iron rails, 
and the coach was instantly upset. Clasping each 
other in their arms, the affrighted pair were dashed 
to the earth, with great violence, amongst broken 
glass from the window and the debris of the shattered 
coach body. But during the anxious moments of 
their peril, they had bethought them of that God 
whose watchful eve was over all his chosen, and who 



22 THE GUIDING HAND. 

had power to save, and a quick prayer for deliver- 
ance had ascended to his ear, and was answered as 
quickly. A crowd of inquiring spectators rushed to 
the rescue and offered friendly aid to the unfortunate. 
Broken ■ spectacles and torn, soiled garments ; a 
terrible jar and crash to the earth within twenty feet 
of the precipitous river bank ; wounds and contusions 
that required the physician's care for ten days; a 
newspaper notice of an accident, and a free ride for 
the rest of the journey, were among the results of 
the adventure. The body of the coach had, in up- 
setting, become detached from the wheels, and the 
horses ran away with the latter, leaving the former 
on the ground. 

At midnight, after a tedious, painful ride, the 
preacher and his companion bowed at the bedside of 
the sick father, and poured out their souls in suppli- 
cations and thanksgivings to that holy Being who 
preserves our lives from destructions. Never before 
had they been so near a violent death; never did 
deliverance seem to be vouchsafed so speedily. The 
newspapers of B. the next morning recorded it as an 
" accident." So it was, perhaps. But there are 
two who to this day put down on the pages of 
memory this thrilling episode in their checkered 
lives, as a providential deliverance from a seen dan- 
ger, where there was but a step between them and 
death. 

Several years later, in the fall of 1861, this same 
servant of Christ, with his companion, having come 
to the city of R., had, on a bright October morning, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 23 

taken seats in the car for a ride of two hundred and 
twenty-five miles, to A. Scarcely had they passed 
the third station on the route, ere the train, which 
had already acquired a speed of ten miles an hour, 
was suddenly checked, throwing the startled passen- 
gers against the seats in front of them, and causing 
a general exclamation of fear and surprise, and a 
rush toward the car door. Looking out, the splen- 
did engine was seen off the track, plowed into a bank 
of earth, and nearly turned on its side, dragging 
several of the forward cars after it, and crushing and 
damaging the baggage. Every one involuntarily 
exclaimed, kk What if the train had been under full 
speed?" aud," What if this had occurred on a high 
bank?*' Five minutes later and so it would have 
been. 

Again were these two, who had till now borne 
a charmed life, perhaps but a few minutes from 
destruction. The train was detained an hour, until 
a new one could be made up, before it proceeded on 
its swift way as if nothing had happened. There 
were two of those passengers, if no more, who per- 
formed the rest of that journey with mingled fear 
and thankso'ivino;, — fearing that controlling Power 
that seems to hold the destinies of human souls in 
his awful hand, — thanking the good Father who 
ruleth over all, for still preserving their persons 
from danger, and enabling them to safely arrive at 
the place of their destination. 

At a time still later, in the winter of 1866, this 
clergyman took the train at R., for the village of P., 



24 THE GUIDING HAND. 

intending the next clay, which was Sunday, to meet 
an appointment for preaching at M. A ride of three 
hours brought us to M., at which place, after the 
usual tarry and changes, the train started on. Sev- 
eral miles beyond M., having just emerged from a 
long curve in a deep cut, where high lands hid all 
objects on either side, as well as obstructing the view 
in front to the open flat land beyond, and while 
running at the rate of thirty miles an hour — the train 
being behind time — suddenly the engineer gave the 
signal to put on all the brakes, and stop the train. 
Nothing is more alarming to a railway traveler, than 
this quick, hoarse note of alarm, especially if a glance 
at the window exhibits no evidence of proximity to 
a station. Quick as the signal the brakes were put 
on heavily, the great speed of the train checked, and 
the passengers sprang to their feet, and the men out 
at the door. The excited conductor, a man of eight 
years' experience in conducting trains, came through 
the car, and a voice said, " Look ahead on the track." 
All did so, and were startled to discover a heavy 
freight train on our track, scarcely one minute's ride 
in the distance, heading towards us, whose engineer, 
with our own, had seen the approaching train in 
time, and checked the speed of his engine. Only 
one minute between us and a frightful collision that 
would have dashed both locomotives and cars in 
pieces, and doubtless injured or killed every soul on 
board. The conductor had mistaken his orders, and 
thereby lost his place. The superintendent of the 
road, when made aware of the imminence of the peril 



THE GUIDING HAND. 25 

to passengers and train, passed an almost sleepless 
night, and the involuntary exclamation of all was, 
" What if we had met in the curve in the deep cut?" 
What destinies hung on that sina'le moment that 
separated this freight of panting men and women 
from ruin of life and limb ! Is it right to say ours 
was "good fortune" only, and that no Almighty 
Guiding Hand shielded the trusting and thankful 
ones from the dangerous catastrophe? 

There was one at least on hoard that train whose 
work for God was not ended, — whose earthly trials 
and sufferings in the service of the Master had not 
yet accomplished his perfection, and whose life was 
yet to be spared for further service in the great 
Redeemer's cause. 

Why God spares one, as if by special act, and 
suffers another to be taken, is a mystery which the 
light of eternity will more fully unfold. Let Him 
do as he will. But somehow, in view of the many 
deliverances recorded of the servants of the Lord, 
and our own experience in such matters, we have 
come to have an abiding faith that all men, until their 
work is done, are endowed with a sort of contingent 
immortality, and cannot, if faithful, be effectually 
harmed. And it affords great joy to rest in this 
faith, and learn to nestle close into the great hand of 
Deity. Men in God's service, while on life's tumult- 
uous sea, are as corks on the waters — but not a hair 
of their heads will perish while in the line of their 
duty, until God is through with them on earth. For 
a period of a quarter of a century we have watched 



26 THE GUIDING HAND. 

the course of human life in this dangerous world, 
with seven or eight hundred ministers in this country 
who are set to herald the speedy appearing of our 
blessed Lord from heaven in his eternal kingdom, 
and with gratitude and wonder declare the fact that 
Ave know not a single instance where a minister of 
God among them, while in the line of his professional 
duty, has been cut off by an accidental or violent 
death. Yet no class of clergymen travel more, or 
are more exposed to casualties, perils, and natural 
dangers, braving toil and risking life and limb every- 
where in proclaiming their heaven-born message. 
Many have died in their beds, and a few who turned 
from duty and took the sword to fight have perished, 
while the faithful are yet unharmed. Let them 
glorify God. And let each keep at his work, and 
fear not, leaving life and all in the hands of the dear 
good Master. He is mighty to save. In his king- 
dom there will be no peril or danger, — immortality 
will be proof against all evil, and the reward of 
fidelity is certain and sure. 



THE LADY AND THE EOBBEE. 

Ill a large, lonely house, situated in the south of 
England, there lived many years ago a lady whose 
only companions were two maid-servants. Though 
far away from all human habitations, they dwelt in 
peace and safety, for they trusted in God, and feared 
no evil under his protecting care. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 27 

It was tile lady's custom to pass around the house 
with her maid-servants every night, and see that all 
the doors and windows were properly secured, and 
then to lie down and sleep in peace under the shadow 
of the Almighty, who was her trust and her shield. 

One night she had accompanied her maids about 
the house as usual, and having ascertained that all 
was safe, they left her in the passage close to her 
room, and then went to their own apartment, which 
was quite distant, at the other side of the house. 

As the lady, thus left alone, opened the door into 
her room, she distinctly saw the feet of a man under 
her bed. Her feelings may be imagined. Her ser- 
vants were far away, and could not hear her if she 
called for help ; she might be murdered before they 
could arrive, even if they did hear her; and if they 
were there, three weak and defenceless women would 
have been no match for an armed and desperate 
burglar. Danger was all around her ; flight was 
impracticable ; earthly refuge seemed to fail. What 
then could she do? She did what it is always safe 
to do — she trusted in the Lord. She knew that she 
had a God to go to, who never leaves nor forsakes 
his confiding saints ; and so she possessed her soul 
in patience and in peace. Making no outcry, and 
giving no intimation that she observed anything 
wrong, she quietly closed the door, locked it on the 
inside, as she was in the habit of doing, leisurely 
brushed her hair, seeking the while, no doubt, the 
help and guidance of the Lord whom she served, and 
putting on her dressing-gown, she took her Bible 



28 THE GUIDING HAND. 

and calmly sat down to read the word of God, that 
word which is quick and powerful, and sharper than 
a two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder 
of the soul and spirit, and discerning the thoughts 
and intents of the heart. 

Guided of the Lord, she selected a portion of 
Scripture, perhaps the ninety-first Psalm, or if not 
this, some passage which recites the watchful care of 
God over his people by night and by day. She read 
aloud. Never was a chapter so read before. In that 
lonely house, with a desperate robber hidden in the 
room, that helpless woman read out the mighty 
promises of Him whose word can never fail, and 
stayed her soul upon those assurances of divine pro- 
tection which cannot disappoint the hopes of the 
trusting children of the Most High. Her heart 
gained strength as she read the words of truth, and 
closing the book she kneeled and prayed to God, 
and prayed as she had never prayed before. She 
told the Lord her helplessness and need ; she com- 
mended herself and her servants in their defenceless- 
ness and loneliness to the care of a protecting God ; 
she dwelt upon their utter lack of all human defence, 
and clung to the sacred promises which were given 
for comfort in the hours of trouble and distress. 
She lingered long in supplication, for it was her 
hour of need, and she came boldly to the throne of 
grace, for every other refuge was in vain. At last 
she rose from her knees, put out her candle and laid 
down upon her bed, — but not to sleep. 

And how felt the wretched man this while? He 



THE GUIDING HAND. 2D 

was bold, he was bad, he had companions near, and 
in his desperation Mas prepared for any struggle or 
for any crime ; but how must he have felt to hear 
the promises of the Almighty God read forth, and to 
listen to the pleading voice of that helpless woman, 
as she poured cut her prayer to the God of her life ! 

Soon after the woman had laid down, she became 
conscious that the man Avas standing by her bedside. 
He spoke to her in a voice very different, we may be 
sure, from his usual tone; begged her not to be 
alarmed, and said, "I came here to rob the house, 
and if necessary to kill you ; and I have companions 
out in the garden ready to obey my call for help. 
But after hearing the words you have read and the 
prayers you have uttered, no power on earth could 
induce me to hurt you or to touch a thing in your 
house. If you had given the slightest alarm or 
token of resistance, I had fully determined to murder 
you, and it was God's good guidance that led you to 
pursue the course you took. You must still remain 
perfectly quiet, and not attempt to interfere with me. 
I shall now give a signal to my companions which 
they will understand, and then we will go away and 
you may sleep in peace, for I give you my solemn 
word, no one shall harm you, and not the smallest 
thing belonoincr to you shall be disturbed." 

He then went to the window and opened it, and 
whistled softly, as a signal to his comrades to disperse 
to a distance, and returning to the bedside of the 
lady, who had neither spoken nor moved throughout 
the whole, he said, i% Now I am going. Your prayer 



30 THE GUIDING HAND. 

has been heard, and no disaster will befall you. But I 
never heard such words before ; I must have the book 
you read out of;" and taking her Bible, willingly 
enough given, you may be sure, he bade her good- 
night and disappeared through the open window. 

Directly all was quiet, and. the lady composed 
herself to sleep, upheld by that faith and grace which 
had so signally sustained her in her hour of trial ; 
and awoke in the morning to give thanks to Him 
who had covered her with his feathers, and pre- 
served her from " the terror by night," and been to 
her a rock of refuge and a fortress of deliverance in 
her hour of need. 

But how fared the robber? He came for treasure, 
and he got it. He sought gold and silver, and gained 
the law of God that is better than thousands of silver 
and gold. He carried that away with him which 
outweighs all treasures, and shall outlast the world — 
the word of God that liveth and abideth forever. 
No doubt this praying woman remembered him 
before the throne, but neither she nor any one else 
could trace him in all his course of sin or sorrow 
through the world. But God followed him ; the 
Holy Spirit pursued him, and the message of God's 
mere)' was in his hands, and for the result we must 
wait and hope. 

In the month of April, 1867, an aged lady, Mrs. 

Hannah P , fell asleep in Christ, in the city of 

Boston. It was not our privilege to know her 
personally, though acquainted with a member of 
her family ; and at his request we endeavored once to 



THE GUIDING HAXD. 31 

call upon her, but failed to find the place of her 
residence. She was a native of England, and the 
daughter of one of the godly Methodist women of 
olden time. In her old age her memory lingered 
lovingly about the scenes of her youth, and fre- 
quently she would relate to the younger members 
of her family the tales of her early English life. 

One time, she said, when she was but a little girl, 
she went with her mother to attend a meeting of the 
Bible Society, or some religious society in Yorkshire, 
England. After several noted clergymen and others 
had addressed the meeting, a man arose, who stated 
that he was employed as one of the book-hawkers of 
the society, and told the story of that midnight scene, 
as a testimony to the living, saving energy of the 
word of God, declaring that, through the influence 
of that Bible and the prayers of that Christian woman, 
the robber was led to Christ for mercy and salvation. 
He paused in his narration, and as the assembly, 
thrilled by his story, waited breathless for the con- 
clusion, he said, " I was that man" Instantly an 
elderly lady rose from her seat in the midst of the 
congregation, and quietly said, " It is all quite true ; 
I was that lady," and sat clown again. 

Many years had elapsed since the lady and the 
robber parted, and she had never heard of him before 
that day. But the Lord had watched and guided, 
led and saved -that sinful man, and he stood forth a 
monument of the wonderful providence and saving 
grace of God. 

TTe had met this story some time since in a 



32 THE GUIDING HAND. 

published volume. A year ago or more, a Christian 
brother, having read the articles in The Christian 
on "-The Guiding Hand," sent us the account in 
manuscript. More recently Ave find the story credited 
to the London Packet, in the October number of 
which the first part of it appeared, while in a subse- 
quent number the editor stated that he had. received 
a letter fully corroborating the previous account of 
the lady and the robber, and narrating the additional 
facts of their subsequent meeting at the anniversary 
of the society, of which the editor had not heard 
when the first part of the story was published in the 
Packet. 

The gentleman who furnished the manuscript 
account of these circumstances having lately called 
at the Repository, we showed him the article copied 
from the London publication. He had never met 
with the story in print before ; but stated that he had 
frequently heard his mother-in-law, Mrs. H — — 

P , relate the account of the anniversary which 

she attended with her mother when she was a little 
girl, and of the story told by the converted robber, 
and confirmed by the testimony of the lady who was 
present to hear him. 

From these independent sources we compile this 
account, and we present it as an illustration of the 
protecting care of the Almighty God, as a proof of 
the safety of trusting in him, as an example of the 
power of his living Word, and < f the mysterious 
ways by which he seeks and saves the lost ; and as a 
fresh encouragement to every child < f God to accept 



THE GUIDING HAND. 33 

with patient trust each trial which may come, relying 
upon that gracious providence of Him, who, having 
fitted us to he used of the Lord as vessels of mercy 
and messengers < f grace to men, shall show us, either 
here or else hereafter, that all things work together 
for our good, and that He who worketh all things 
after the counsel of his own will, shall glorify him- 
self alike in our willing service and in our patient 
trust. 



PKOYIDENTIAL ILLNESS. 

An Eno'lish o-cntleman, doin^ an extensive business 
in a distant part of the country, left his house some 
years ago, with an intention of going to Bristol; hut, 
when he had proceeded about halfway, he was taken 
ill, raid detained several days. As the fair by this 
time Avas in a considerable degree over, he returned 
home. Some years after, the same gentleman, hap- 
pening to be at the place where the assizes for the 
county were held, was induced to be present at the 
execution of a criminal. 

While he was mixed with the crowd, the criminal 
perceived him, and expressed a desire to speak with 
him. On the gentleman's approaching him, he asked, 
" Do you recollect at such a time intending to be at 
Bristol fair?" "Yes, perfectly well." "It is well 
that you did not go, for I and several others, who 
knew that you had a considerable sum of money about 
you,. had resolved to waylay and rob, and then mur- 
der you, to prevent detection." 
2 



34 THE GUIDING HAND. 

ANN YOUNG'S TEXT. 

Above a century ago, in a sequestered part of 
Scotland, a hard-working couple Ave re struggling 
through life, and frequently found it difficult to gain 
a bare subsistence, and provide even necessaries for 
their young family. But though their lot was cast 
among the poor of this earth, they were honest. 
They lived in a thinly-peopled neighborhood, remote 
from town or village, and indeed at a considerable 
distance from any habitation whatever. The poor 
man could generally contrive to earn a scanty sub- 
sistence, barely sufficient to maintain his wife and 
four children. At times, indeed, his means of sup- 
port were cut off; for, though industrious when he 
could procure work, his employment at best was 
precarious. In that secluded district, where there 
were few resident gentry, his resources in this respect 
were limited and uncertain ; and sometimes this 
worthy couple were reduced to great necessity for 
want of food, when they experienced unexpected 
interpositions of Providence, by which help was sent 
to them in the most unlooked for manner. Thus 
God often reveals himself to his chosen ones, and in 
time of their need proves that he is "a very present 
help in trouble." 

At some miles' distance from this humble cottage, 
was the residence of an excellent Christian lady 
whose piety and active benevolence had gained her 
the love and esteem of all the neighborhood. Lady 
Kilmarnock devoted her time and fortune to doing 



THE GUIDING HAND. 35 

good, and was indeed a blessing to those around'her. 
These worthy cottagers had been frequent objects of 
her bounty, and through her aid they had often 
obtained most seasonable relief. But, though Ann 
Young — for that was the former name of the cot- 
tager's wife, by which she was still known in the 
neighborhood — had formerly been a servant in her 
family, yet such Avas her repugnance to appear bur- 
densome to her benefactress, that it was seldom 
indeed that when in want her distress was made 
known by herself. 

It came to pass on one occasion that these poor 
people were reduced to the greatest extremity of 
want ; all their resources had failed. Their little 
store of provisions gradually diminished, till they 
were exhausted. Her children had received the last 
morsel she could furnish, yet she was not cast down, 
for Ann Young was indeed a Christian. She knew 
in whom she had believed ; she had learned to trust 
in the loving-kindness of her God, when apparently 
cut off from human aid ; and having found by expe- 
rience that man's extremity is Ged's opportunity, 
she did not despond. 

The day, however, passed slowly over, and no 
prospect of succor appeared. Night came at last, 
and still no relief was vouchsafed to them. The 
children were crying for their supper, and because 
there was none to give them, their mother undressed 
them and put them to bed, where they soon cried 
themselves to sleep. Their father was much dejected, 
and likewise went to bed, leaving Ann in solitary 



Ob THE GUIDING HAND. 

possession of the room. And yet she felt not alone ; 
many sweet hours had she spent in that little cottage 
apart from the world, with her Bible and her God. 
Precious had these opportunities ever been to her, 
of pouring out her soul to God — of spreading her 
sorrows, her trials, all before him, and giving vent 
to a full, and now, alas ! a heavy heart. 

Having seen her children safely at rest, she made 
up the peat fire on the hearth, that she might not 
afterwards be disturbed for the night. She then 
trimmed and lighted the little cruisy — a small iron 
vessel which served as a lamp — and hung it upon its 
accustomed place on the wall, and moved the clean 
oaken table near it, and having taken a large family 
Bible from among the six or eight well-read, well- 
worn volumes on the book-shelf, deposited it upon 
it. She paused, however, before opening the sacred 
volume, to implore a blessing on its contents, when 
the following text involuntarily came into her mind : 
" For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle 
upon a thousand hills." 

The text, thought Ann, is not very applicable to 
my present condition — and opening her Bible she 
proceeded to look out for some of her favorite pas- 
sages of Scripture. Yet, " For every beast of the 
forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills," 
was uppermost in her thoughts. She knelt down 
and committed her case to the Hearer and Answerer 
of prayer ; and then tried to recall former experience 
— to bring to remembrance the promises of God, and 
those portions of Scripture which used to come home 



THE GUIDING HAND. * 37 

with power to her heart ; but without now feeling 
that lively pleasure and satisfaction she had ever 
found in the word of God. The text, "For every 
beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a 
thousand hills," seemed fastened to her memory, 
and, despite of every effort, she could not banish it 
from her mind. Yet, thought Ann, it is God's own 
word: and she read the fiftieth Psalm, in which the 
text is contained. It was, she thought, a beautiful 
psalm, but many verses in it appeared to her more 
suited to her condition than the one already quoted. 
Again she prayed, hoping that, while presenting her 
supplication before the throne of grace, she might 
forget it; but with no better success. Still she 
endeavored to encourage her drooping heart with the 
belief, nay, God's blessed assurance of the efficacy of 
earnest, persevering prayer, and continued her occu- 
pation, alternately supplicating in prayer and reading 
her Bible, until midnight. Indeed, early dawn found 
her engaged at this same employment. At length 
daylight appeared through the little casement, when 
a loud, impatient rap was heard at the door. 

" Who's there?" said Ann. 

A voice from without answered — " A friend." 

' ' But who is a friend?" she replied. "What are 
you?" 

" I'm a drover; and quick, mistress, and open the 
door, and come out and help me. And if there's a 
man in the house, tell him also to come out with all 
speed, for one of my cattle has fallen down a preci- 
pice and broken its leg, and is lying at your door." 



33 THE GUIDING HAND. 

On opening the door, what was the first object 
that met the astonished gaze of Ann ? A large drove 
of cattle, from the Highlands of Scotland. As far as 
eye could reach in either direction, the road was 
black with the moving mass, which the man was 
driving en to the market in the south. And there 
lay the disabled beast, its leg broken — the poor 
drover standing by, looking ruefully over it — his 
faithful colley dog by his side, gazing up as if in 
sympathy with his master, and as if he understood 
his dilemma, and knew also that his services could 
now be of no avail. 

The worthy couple w r ere concerned for the poor 
drover, and evinced every willingness to assist him 
in his misfortune, had it been in their power. He, 
in his turn, felt at loss to know how he should 
dispose of the animal, and paused to consider what 
course he ought to pursue. But the more he thought 
over the catastrophe, the more his perplexity in- 
creased. 

To drive on the maimed beast was obviously 
impossible. To sell it there, seemed equally so. 
At a distance from a market, it would not be easy to 
find a purchaser ; and by remaining in that place 
lono* enouo'h to do so, he must likewise detain the 
whole herd of cattle, which would incur more expense 
than the animal was worth. 

What was to be done ? The drover drew his 
Highland plaid tighter round him. He shifted and 
replaced his bonnet from one side of his head to the 
other. "I never," he at length exclaimed, "was 



THE GUIDING HAM). 39 

more completely brought to ray wit's end in my 

life ;" unci then turning to Ann, he added, " Deed, 
mistress, I must just make you a present of it, for in 
truth I don't know what else I can do with it; so 
kill it, and take care of it, for it is a principal beast. 
1*11 answer for it, a mart like that has never come 
within your door.'* And, without waiting for thanks, 
he whistled on his dog and joined the herd, which 
was soon moving slowly on its weary journey. 

The poor cottagers were lost in wonder at this 
unexpected deliverance from famine, by so signal an 
interposition of Providence. And after they had in 
some measure recovered from the surprise such an 
incident was calculated to excite, the father assembled 
his little family around him to unite in prayer, and 
to oive thanks to the Giver of all o-ood for this 
new proof of his condescending kindness toward 
them ! Thus their prayer was now turned into 
praise. He then proceeded to follow the advice of 
the drover, and found his gift, as he told them, to 
be a " principal beast." All was then rejoicing, 
preparation and gladness, with the inmates of the 
cottage. The}' had meat sufficient to serve them for 
many months to come, and in their first joy they 
totally forgot that they had no bread. But He who 
"commanded the ravens " to bring to the prophet 
" bread and flesh/' did not forget it. God does not 
work by halves. About six o'clock in the morning, 
another knock was heard at the door, which this 
time flew quickly open, when who should present 
himself but the "grieve,"' or bailiff of Lady 



40 THE GUIDING HAND. 

Kilmarnock, with a load on his back. He then 
proceeded to relate how that Lady Kilmarnock 
sent for him the previous morning, to inquire "it 
anything had happened to Ann Young." To which 
he replied, that he was not aware that she had met 
with any calamity, and that when he last heard of 
her family, they were all well. "Then," said her 
ladyship, " she must be in want; for these few days 
she has been incessantly in my thoughts ; / cannot 
get her out of my head; and I am sure she is in 
distress. So take a sack of meal to her — a lari>e 
one, too, and take it directly. Ton had better 
convey it yourself, that it may be safely delivered 
to her, and bring me word how she is ; for 1 know 
she would almost starve before she applied for 
relief." 

"I fully intended," added the bailiff, "to have 
brought it yesterday, as Lady Kilmarnock desired ; 
but being more than usually busy throughout that 
day, I could not find leisure to come, but determined 
that my first employment this morning would be to 
fetch it to you." Thus were these pious cottagers, 
by a wonderful interference of Providence, amply 
provided for, and Ann Young found out why that 
passage of Scripture had been so impressed upon her 
mind, and learned to understand more fully than she 
did before, the meaning of that- old, and yet new, 
and true, and faithful word of God, " Every beast 
of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand 
hills." 



THE GUIDING HAND. 41 

A PASTOE'S STOEY. 

It was December, My quarter's salary, the last 
for the year, had been paid me with the usual prompt- 
ness. I don't wish to blame my people in the least 
— in many things they are very kind to their minis- 
ter and family. But the plain fact is, that during no 
year of the five I have been with them, has my salary 
met necessary home expenses. T\ e have tried to 
economize in every way ; but as yet are unable to 
make the two ends of the year meet on the salary. 

T\ e were particularly tried during the month men- 
tioned. The weather without was not more gloomy 
than the state of things within doors. My three 
eldest children were down with the whooping-cough : 
a little babe of only a few weeks was daily threat- 
ened ; my wife lay prostrate on a bed of sickness : I 
myself was struggling with the severest cough that 
had yet overtaken me ; our hired help had left and 
we could obtain no one to take her place ; and one 
of the worst features of the case was that I was 
entirely out of pocket, not two months of my quarter 
having passed before every cent of my salary was 
spent — a most unusual circumstance, for ordinarily 
it would last me till within a couple of weeks of the 
close of the quarter. Six weeks were before me. 
during which I would receive no remuneration by 
which to meet the expenses that would not stop. 

I saw no way of relief. I could calculate on no 
outside income of my own ; I had none. My credit 
at the stores was good; but to avail myself of it 



42 THE GUrDING HAND. 

would inevitably plunge me in debt, for which my 
next quarter's salary would not be sufficient. I 
dared not draw from the little I had laid aside for 
the rainy days of the future ; for when or how should 
I be able to replace it? The prospect before me 
was dark. Thoughts, of it soon began to affect the 
peace of my mind. I could no longer apply myself 
calmly to sermon labor and pastoral duty. I even 
looked around for some employment other than my 
regular one, wherewith to turn an honest penny, but 
every door was closed. I could endure the tension 
of thought — the daily worry — no longer. I resolved 
to lay the whole case before lite Lord in prayer. 
With this end in view, I first carefully estimated 
how much I needed to carry me through the remain- 
ing weeks of the quarter, and clear me from all debt. 
It would take, I thought, about one hundred dollars. 
I next wrote out my prayer, that I might afterwards 
know just what I had asked for, what promises I had 
plead, and with what sort of a spirit I had prayed. 

This written prayer I took to my closet and laid 
before the Lord. I asked for these three things : 
that I might not get into debt; that I might not be 
compelled to draw from the little I had laid aside 
for the future ; and that I might have one hundred 
dollars — or sneh sum as the Lord knew I needed to 
carry mo through the quarter. 

After prayer, I somehow became very calm. 
Things did not look quite so dark. I felt that in some 
way the Guiding Hand would appear. Now, note 
the result. It was that same evening I believe, at a 



THE GUIDING HAND. 43 

very late hour, when my door bell was suddenly 
rung. In some surprise I responded to the summons. 
A stranger stood before me. He came, he said, to 
have me attend the wedding ceremony of his daugh- 
ter. I inquired into the circumstances, and found 
that the parties were to have been married in Boston, 
but on account of the mother's health, had unex- 
pectedly changed their plans, and were to be married 
at home. Of course I consented to go. As he left 
me I said to myself, " My first five toward the one 
hundred dollars. The Lord means that I shall work 
it out. Most willing am I, if he will only give^me 
something to do." 

A few days after this came our Sunday-school 
Christmas festival. It was a season of much inno- 
cent merriment to the children. The Christmas tree 
was heavily laden 9 and Santa Claus was profuse with 
his gifts. Perhaps, thought I, the Lord will remem- 
ber me to-night ; but not a penny was announced for 
the pastor. 

Nothing disturbed in my faith, I was turning to 
leave, when a gentleman accosted me, one who held 
a bill of a barrel of flour against me. It was one of 
the things that had given me trouble. He held in 
his hand the bill, and with a good-natured smile, 
said he wished to make me a little Christmas present. 
He then handed me the bill receipted. It amounted 
to ten dollars and sixty cents. Saying a few words 
of thanks and remarking on the timeliness of the 
gift, I returned home with a lighter heart. 

A few days after this, a neighboring pastor called 



44 THE GUIDING HAND. 

and asked mc to exchange with him the next Sunday. 
Being in no mood for pulpit preparation, on account 
of domestic care, I consented and went. It was a 
dismal day. The rain fell in torrents incessantly/ 
Only a scattering few were present. All my efforts 
that day seemed to me the veriest commonplace. 
At the close of the afternoon service, and before I 
could leave the pulpit, a gentleman hastily came up 
and took his seat by my side. I had been introduced 
to him that day. He kindly inquired how I was to 
return, etc., and then, on leaving me, put into my 
hand a bill. He pressed the gift upon me so deli- 
cately, that I consented to take it. On going home 
I looked at the bill and found it was five dollars. I 
have been a minister for twelve years, but this was 
the first time that I had received a gift in the pulpit 
and on the Lord's day. 

I now felt more certain than ever that God was 
answering my prayer. In a few days, I had received 
from most unexpected quarters, twenty dollars 
toward the one hundred I had asked for. After 
this, twenty-two days elapsed; and one Monday 
evening, as I w T as sitting with my wife, talking about 
the matters of the day, but all the while inwardly 
wondering; whether the Lord would suffer me to 
begin my new quarter, which was only six days off, 
in debt, we were startled by a nervous ring of the 
door bell. On opening the door the friend who had 
remembered me so pleasantly on Christmas eve, 
entered. He had been a frequent visitor before, and 
his presence now raised no expectations. After an 



THE GUIDING HAM). 45 

hour's chatty conversation he arose to leave. I 
accompanied him to the door with the light. As I 

extended my hand to shake good-night, he left a roll 
of bills in it. Before I had time to express my 
astonishment, he had gone. Not having given me 
the slightest intimation of what was coming, this 
almost midnight gift seemed like something dropped 
from the skies. We opened the roll and counted 
seventy-five dollars. "Within five dollars of my 
hundred!" I exclaimed. "This will suffice. My 
prayer is substantially answered." What gratitude 
swelled in my heart that night. And the next day 
how laughingly I went to the stores, and left word 
at each to make out their respective bills ! And 
with what joy I speedily cashed them all ! Once 
more I was (nit of debt — and what to me was very 
strange, I had mme money left. But why forget the 
live loaves and twelve baskets of fragments ? 

Previous to this event, while in one of our church 
gatherings, I had been invited to visit a lady who 
had formerly been constant at our service. In the 
press of my ministerial duties, I had almost forgotten 
this follower of the Lord. I was glad to be told that 
a visit from me would be welcome d. A few days 
after the Monday I have just spoken of, while sitting 
in my room, I became strongly impressed to go at 
once and see this lady. I did so. The day was 
mild and sunny. After spending considerable time 
in profitable religious conversation, I rose to leave. 
" Stop a moment,*' she said, and then left the room. 
I wondered; but imagined she had gone to axt a 



46 THE GUIDING HAND. 

book to read, or to prepare something to have me 
take home to my wife. She quickly returned ; and 
then extended to me her hand with a bill in it, asking 
me to accept it. I could not do so at first, telling 
her I had no need of it ; but she had so many reasons 
why I should take it that I reluctantly consented. 
On my way home I looked at the gift. It was five 
dollars. 

This made up the hundred. In two days more 
my quarter would end. In just thirty-six days from 
the time I offered my prayer, the whole answer came. 

One circumstance I afterwards learned with respect 
to the seventy-five dollars. It came from three 
individuals only. Each of them agreed to give as 
much as the other would. One started with twenty- 
five dollars; so the three gave twenty -five apiece. 
The friend who brought me the gift was overheard 
saying some time after, that he was sorry he. had not 
doubled his gift. Instead of seventy-five, then, I 
would have received one. hundred and fifty dollars. 
Was it because I had asked for the one hundred only, 
that my friend did not yield to his first impulse ? 

I gather the above facts from my journal, where I 
wrote them at the time, and I hope that some strug- 
gling disciples will be encouraged by this recital to 
be anxious about nothing, but in evervthins: bv 
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to let 
their requests be made known unto God. 

Give to the winds thy fears, 

Hope, and be undismayed : 
God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears : 

God shall lift up thy head. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 47 

THE LITTLE ANCHOE. 

About fifty years ago there lived in Marblehead, 
Mass., a God-fearing sea-captain named Richard 
Girdler, who sought to make his vessel a place of 
prayer, and who trusted in God amid the perils of 
the mighty deep. 

One night he was called upon to take charge of the 
brig Farnsworth, in which lie had sailed to Antwerp 
the preceding April, and which was now laden and 
lying in the stream, all ready for another voyage. 

Having arranged matters with the owners, Captain 
Girdler went on board the brig next morning, and 
found everything ready, with one exception. In his 
opinion, before starting on so long a voyage, the ves- 
sel needed another hawser and a hedge, which, as our 
sea-faring readers know, is a small anchor, not in- 
tended for security from storms, but used in calm 
weather, to steady the vessel, or by carrying it oil' to 
a distance in a boat, to " warp" or move a ship to 
another position when wind and tide do not serve. 
He laid the matter before the owners, and received 
orders to procure a kedge, and go back to Marblehead 
and obtain a suitable hawser for it. 

The kedge was easily found, but he could not get 
such a hawser as he wanted in all Marblehead, and 
there was no rope-walk there long enough to "lay," 
or twist one, and the weather was too rainy to do it 
out of doors. But he would not go without his haw- 
ser, and was finally obliged to have it laid in two 
c/lats, or pieces, of sixty fathoms each, which, when 



48 TUB GUIDING HAND. 

joined together, made a strong hawser of one hun- 
dred and twenty fathoms, or seven hundred and 
twenty feet in length. 

Thus provided, the Farnsworth cleared from the 
port of Boston for Liberia, October 3, 1826, and 
sailed on her destined voyage. During the passage 
the service of God was not forgotten ; family worship 
was regularly maintained when the weather would 
permit; and all who could bo spared from duty were 
invited to attend, though two of the crew, who were. 
Roman Catholics, would not accept the invitation. 

About the first of December, 1826, the Farnsworth 
reached the bay of Gibraltar, and came to anchor, 
and remained there some days, with hundreds ot 
other vessels that were moored in the buy. On the 
sixth of the month the weather looked threatening, 
and a gale seemed approaching. They made such 
preparations as they could for the fearful encounter, 
— all the anchors were over, the small bower, and 
the best bower; and the little hedge, with the whole 
new hawser of a hundred and twenty fathoms, was 
carried out, and everything was made trim and snug 
for the coming storm. 

They had not long to wait. The wind freshened ; 
at nine o'clock in the evening the gale burst upon 
them with tremendous power, and at eleven o'clock 
it blew a perfect hurricane. Not less than three 
hundred vessels of all classes and descriptions had 
found anchorage there, and the effect of such a gale 
among them may be imagined. Cables parted, an- 
chors dragged, rigging was torn, and rent, and swept 



THE GUIDING HAND. 49 

away, vessels drifted hither and thither, like corks 
upon the water, dashing against each other and upon 
the shore, and consternation and dismay were on 
every countenance. 

At a quarter past eleven o'clock the Farnsworth 
parted her small bower, and began to drift with the 
hurricane; soon her best bower followed, and away 
went the brig before the wind. Up to this time most 
of the vessels had gone on to "the neutral ground ;" 
some of them little injured, some bilged, some dis- 
abled, some crushed by the collisions caused by the 
roll of larger vessels, and all in imminent peril, with 
death and destruction stalking wildly through the 
storm. 

Just at this time the danger seemed to increase, for 
the wind had shifted, and the Farnsworth was drift- 
ing directly towards the massive mole against whose 
rocky side it seemed that it must crash beyond hope 
of escape. A little astern of her, a ship from New 
York had already been dashed in pieces upon the 
rocks ; and distinctly visible through the surrounding 
gloom, lashed by the fury of the winds, roared the 
white breakers, which seemed to every one on board 
to be weaving for them a sailor's winding-sheet. 

What now could be done ? No skill could avail, 
no human arm could save them, and lie who hushed 
the brute waves of Gennesa v et with his word, walked 
not upon the dark waters to quiet their tumultuous 
rage. Refuge failed them, and they could only pre- 
pare to meet their impending fate. 

Shrinking from their awful doom, they raised their 



50 THE GUIDING HAND. 

cries to God, and besought the captain to pray with 
them. On the very verge of destruction they all 
kneeled upon the deck, while above the voice of deep 
calling unto deep, arose the captain's cry to Him who 
was mighty to save. And he was heard. lie who 
once slept in the hinder part of the vessel, and awoke 
to save his disciples from the yawning waves, had a 
care for this ship where his word was trusted and his 
name adored ; and when they arose from their knees 
they found, to their amazement, that their ship, which 
had been driven from her moorings when held by 
three anchors, was now heading towards the wind, 
and riding securely, held only by her little kedge — 
the smallest of the whole ! 

At midnight the gale abated, but the morning light 
disclosed a fearful scene. The " neutral ground" was 
packed with ill-fated vessels, piled one upon another 
in terrible confusion. Some had gone directly upon 
the rocks, and had been dashed in pieces there; and 
of three hundred vessels that were riding quiet \y at 
anchor the day before, not more than fifty remained 
unharmed. The rest were either wrecked, or more 
or less injured ; and the shore of Gibraltar was strewn 
with the fragments of wrecked vessels and the bodies 
of the dead. 

But how did the Farnsworth escape ? She was 
drifting rapidly on to the rocks, and her two strong- 
est cables and heaviest anchors were gone. How 
was the vessel saved from impending ruin? 

The captain sent out a boat and got up his anchors ; 
but when he came to heave up his little kedge, he 



THE GUIDING HAND. 51 

found it almost impossible to raise it. Slowly and 
wearily they toiled to heave it up, and when it came 
under the vessel's bow^, they saw with wonder that 
the fluke of the little kedge was hooked into the rimr 
of a huge old Spanish anchor, that weighed more than 
three thousand pounds ! 

Forty-four years before, in September, 1782, a 
Spanish flotilla attacked Gibraltar, and Governor 
Elliot, who was then in command there, poured a 
storm of red-hot shot upon them, burning, sinking, 
and destroying their fleet. This may have been one 
of their anchors ; it may not ; no one but God knows 
who put it there, and none but He knew where it lay. 
He knew all about it, and he "knoweth how to de- 
liver the godly" out of danger and temptation. 

He would not suffer Captain Gi rdler to go to sea 
without his kedge. A large anchor would not answer, 
it must be a little kedge, just large enough to steady 
a vessel while lying in the stream, and small enough 
so that the fluke of it would enter the ring of that 
old Spanish anchor ; and it must be fastened to a new 
cable strong enough to hold the brig amid the fury of 
the gale. God knew all about it, and he knew just 
when to shift the wind to bring the kedge where the 
old anchor was, and so deliver them from death by 
the very means that seemed to portend a more swift 
destruction. Truly, God heareth prayer ; and those 
sailors thought so ; for the two who had refused to 
join in worship at the family altar now refused no 
more, being convinced that God had heard and 
answered Captain Girdler's prayers. 



52 THE GUIDING HAND. 

The tacts above stated are believed to be authentic ; 
some of them were published in The Youth's Com- 
panion (Boston), for April, 1848, and the names, 
dates of clearance, etc., were furnished for The 
Christian from the records of the Boston Custom 
House, and may be relied on as correct. 



THE FALLING CHIMNEY. 

Some persons believe in a general, but deny a 
special providence, forgetting that as the greater 
includes the less, so a general providence is made up 
of special providences. Zion's Herald asks and 
answers the question, "Is there not a special provi- 
dence?" in the statement of this recent and striking- 
tact : 

" During the gale on Tuesday, December 5th, 1871, 
Rev. Dr. Samuel Harris, of New Haven, who 
delivered the course of lectures before the Boston 
Theological Seminary last week, was sitting in his 
own room, number 99, Marlborough Hotel, Boston, 
writing. Being at a loss for a word, he clasped his 
hands over the top of his head, and tilted back his 
chair to meditate. Scarcely had he done so, when a 
chimney was thrown over, and a mass of brick and 
mortar came throuo'h the roof and the ceiling crush- 
insr the table on which he had been writing. But 
for the position he was in, he would have been 
instantly killed. The hole made in the roof was at 
least ten by fourteen feet. If this is not a special 
providence, what is.?" 



THE GUIDING HAND. 53 

A TIMELY VISIT. 

The following interesting statement, contained in 
a volume entitled "Remarkable Providences/*' is from 
the pen of a minister who says, "The facts I received 
but a few evenings ago from an amiable lady of my 
congregation, and may be fully depended upon, 
though I am not at liberty to mention names. I will 
give the account as nearly as possible in her own 
words :" 

"One afternoon, in the winter of about the year 

1808, I had occasion to go from F to S , a 

distance of about two miles, and was unexpectedly 
detained till late in the evening, when I set out -to 
return home alone. The night was very frosty and 
cold, and the ground was covered with a deep snow. 
When I had proceeded some short distance on the 
road, I was stopped by two men, who were, I believe, 
employed in the military works in the neighborhood. 

They asked me if I was going to F-; ; I gave them 

an evasive answer and proceeded, not a little sensible 
of the dangerous circumstances in which I was placed. 
I went on a little distance, when they again accosted 
me, and once more I found means to give them an 
evasive reply. They passed on before me, and hid 
themselves in the hedge, and as I came near them, I 
heard them engaged in a conversation that roused all 
my fears : I paused a moment, and then resolved to 

return to S with all possible speed. I set oft* 

to run, with one of these men almost immediately 
behind me. Once I fell on the ice almost exhausted, 



54 THE GUIDING HAND. 

but remembering that my very life was at stake, I 
arose, and with aid communicated from on high, I 
pursued my journey till I reached the Turnpike 
House, into which I ran, and fell in a state of 
exhaustion into one of the chairs. At some times 
during the pursuit the man was not more than three 
yards behind me. 

"In about two hours I was in some degree recovered 
from my fright ; and that I might not alarm my 

friends at S with my return, I resolved to spend 

the night with a pious old lady, a member of your 
church, who at that time was keeping the house of a 

baronet in S , avIio was then, with all his family, 

absent from home. * 

"Late at night, probably at ten o'clock, I arrived 
at the house, and still terrified with what I had 
passed through, I knocked at the different doors with 
all my might, but it was long before I received an 
answer. At length the old lady, who was quite 
alone, came to a small back door situated among the 
stables, to inquire who was there. I mentioned my 
name, and she opened the door for my admission ; I 
related the circumstances in which I was placed, and 
she begged me to stay over night, to which I cheer- 
fully assented, and accompanied her into the house. 

"As we passed through the different parts of the 
house, I could not help remarking the circumstance 
that every door, even those we had to enter, and 
from which I supposed the old lady had just passed, 
were all carefully made secure ; nor was I a little 
surprised to find that she had no refreshment to offer 



THE GUIDING HAND. 55 

me, except a little bread. But as my heart over- 
flowed with gratitude for the deliverance I had 
experienced, I felt but little concern on that account. 
We retired to rest, and I left my friend with feelings 
of thankfulness to the great Preserver of my life, for 
the escape I had on the past night, which I can never 
forget. 

"From this period I could not but be struck with 
the attention and kindness which the good old lady 
manifested towards me. She seemed almost to feel 
for me an idolatrous regard, and I sometimes felt 
grieved at the trouble she gave herself to promote 
my comfort whenever I paid her a visit. 

"Mark the sequel of these events: — About the 
year 1818, as her husband was dead, it was judged 

desirable that she should leave S to go to 

reside with her son in London. She came, therefore, 
to take her leave of me ; and, after some general 
conversation, she said: 'Miss , I have some- 
what particular to say to you. Do you remember 

coming to Sir 's house to me ten years 

ago?' 'Certainly I do,' I replied; 'nor can I ever 
forget the deliverance I then experienced.' 'Do 
you remember that you found all the doors bolted 
and barred, — that I came to you at a door among the 
stables, — and that I had nothing to offer you for 
your supper but a morsel of bread ?' ' Yes, I remem- 
ber it all.' Here she burst into tears, and as soon 
as she could, she told me that at that time she had 
long labored under very heavy depression of spirits ; 
that she had been tempted to destroy herself; and 



56 THE GUIDING HAND. 

that when I went to the house, she had fastened all 
the doors, and was passing down the yard with a 
determination to drown herself in the sea ; but that 
my coming in the way I did, had clearly shown her 
that the interposing hand of God had removed the 
temptation, and scattered the gloomy feelings of her 
mind. She added, that she had ever since endured 
much grief on account of the painful event ; that as 
she was not likely to live very long, and in all proba- 
bility should never see me again, she had come to 
the determination, however painful the task, to dis- 
close the whole affair, begging me never to relate the 
circumstances as long as she lived. I acceded to her 
request, nor was the affair known even to her own 
family, till her death had taken place." 

A few months after this conversation, she suddenly 
passed away from a world of sorrow and distress, 
comforted with the hope of seeing Jesus, and sharing 
the joys of immortality and eternal blessedness in 
his presence. 



THOMAS WILLIAMS' ESCAPE. 

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is 
forgotten before God? " 

About 1785, Thomas Williams, by trade a miner, 
and at that time about nineteen years of age, was 
working in a lead mine near Llanarmon, Denbigh- 
shire, North Wales. The mine was under a very 
high mountain, and while Thomas Williams and his 
partner were working at the farther part of the mine, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 57 

a vast quantity of rubbish fell down, stopped up their 
way, and kept them closely confined forty-eight hours. 
At the expiration of this time they were dug out by 
their partners ; neither of them having sustained the 
least damage, except what they suffered through cold. 

About fourteen years ago, the same Thomas "\Yil- 
liams was employed in working in a slate quarry at 
Cormistone in the North of Lancashire. He was one 
dav raised a considerable height from the bottom of 
the quarry in order to loosen some stone near the 
top, when a large quantity of earth, and huge pieces 
of rock gave way, and fell with all their force upon 
him, and undoubtedly would have crushed him to 
death, had it not been for two of the large stones, 
which, as though designed for the purpose, met 
together, and formed a kind of arch over him. Hence, 
although he was much bruised, in a few weeks he 
recovered. 

This day, June 5th, 1805, the same man, who is now 
a private in the Second Regiment of Royal Lancashire 
militia, Captain Ridge way's company, being* employed 
with one of his comrades in sinking a well in this 
toAvn, Colchester, went down into the well, which 
was some forty feet deep, about three o'clock this 
morning. He had scarce been an hour in the well 
when he heard a crack. He immediately looked up, 
and observed the corb — a piece of wood in a circular 
form, for the purpose of supporting the bricks — had 
given way. Instantly he endeavored to run up the 
rope, hoping by this means to prevent some, if he 
could not prevent the whole, of the destructive 



58 THE GUIDING HAND. 

materials from falling upon him. But the windlass not 
being fast, he was prevented escaping by this method ; 
and was immediately covered with a vast quantity of 
1500 bricks, beside the earth which fell in with them. 
The earth and sand enclosed him as high as the 
middle of his thighs. The bricks, mingled with the 
earth, enclosed him upwards, and pressed with such 
violence against his breast and back, as scarcely to 
suffer him to breathe. He says he could not breathe 
at all for some time. 

Around his head the bricks were so laid as just to 
give him room to move his head. And the quantity 
of earth that covered him above was fifteen feet deep. 
He says he was perfectly sensible the whole time ; 
and that he first turned his thoughts to his wife and 
child, who now reside in the county of Westmore- 
land. Expecting never to see them on earth again, 
he earnestly commended their bodies and souls to 
the mercy and care of heaven. Supposing he should 
soon be deprived of his reason, he endeavored to 
throw himself on the merits of Immanuel's blood, 
trusting therein for life and salvation. 

In a little time he found himself able to breathe 
more freely, and he began to sing that reviving hymn, 

" My Gocl, the spring of all my joys." 
This he was enabled to sing through ; and the words, 
he says, being the sentiments and experience of his 
mind, when he came to that verse, 

''Fearless of hell and ghastly death, 
I'd break through every foe ; 
The wings of love, and arms of faith, 
Would bear me conqueror through ! " 



THE GUIDING HAND. 59 

his soul was unspeakably happy, and his prospect of 
eternity peculiarly delightful. 

His colonel and captain hearing of the accident, 
hastened to the place, and to the credit of humanity, 
appeared to he both deeply affected, and, as I am 
informed, they both wept. They determined he 
should be got out, if possible, dead or alive. Imme- 
diately fifteen men were employed to remove the 
materials beneath which he lay. The picket guard 
was sent for to keep off the crowd, while the colonel 
and captain stood by, ready to give every possible 
assistance. 

About ten o'clock they heard him shout, and by 
eleven, the colonel and one of the men caught hold of 
his hand, and brought him out ; not having received 
any other injury than that of being a little crushed 
with the pressure of the heavy materials. He had 
been confined to the dark cell seven hours. He 
informs me that he reflected with pleasure on the 
omnipresence and omniscience of that God who 
heard the cry of Jonah from the belly of the fish — 
Jonah ii. 2. This night he was at our chapel to 
request the congregation to unite with him in thanks- 
giving to Almighty God for his gracious deliverance. 

Now what must we- say to these things ? Must we 
ascribe such deliverances to that unmeaning term 
"Chance," or ascribe them to the guardian care of 
the Infinite goodness, "Who maketh his angels 
spirits ; and his ministers a flame of fire," giving 
them charge concerning his saints to keep them in all 
their ways? Should not every pious heart.be swift 



60 THE GUIDING HAND. 

to recognize the goodness of the Lord, and the effi- 
cienee of his kind providence, by which he manifests 
himself a present help in every time of need, and 
redeems from destruction the lives of those who trust 
in him? 



A BLESSED PSALM. 

In this perplexed and vexing world the guidance 
of the divine counsel is our comfort and our joy. 
And it is a precious thought, when trials and sorrows 
roll in upon our fainting hearts, that the Saviour, 
who was tempted in all points like as Ave are, yet 
without sin, will not suffer us to be tempted above 
that we are able, but will with the temptation pro- 
vide a way of escape, that we may be aide to bear it. 

Little does a godless world know of the secret 
grief that wrings so many a quivering heart ; and 
less does it know of the wondrous wisdom of divine 
providence by which "the Lord knoweth how to 
deliver the godly out of temptation, " and assuage the 
sorrows that threaten to destroy their souls. But 
Jesus knows it all — the sorrow and the joy, the trial 
and the consolation, the snare. that Satan weaves, and 
the power that breaks its meshes and sets the captive 
free. And he who, in the spirit of Christ's love, 
sympathizes with the disconsolate, and seeks to heal 
the Avounds of the broken-hearted, will listen to many 
a bitter tale of hidden sorrow and despair, and to 
many a glad thanksgiving for delivering grace in 
times of special need, manifested in strange and 



THE GUIDING HAND. 61 

wonderful ways, and proving itself sufficient for 
every hour of conflict and distress. 

And in such trials and such deliverances, how often 
the words of divine Inspiration, — brought to view, 
illuminated, and emphasized by the Holy Ghost, — 
arc made the instruments of the discomfiture of 
Satan, and the rescue of those whose feet had well- 
nigh slipped upon the dark and dangerous mountains 
of sorrow and despair. 

The experience of a personal and valued friend of 
the writer,* who, having been preserved through 
years of the bitterest grief that falls to the lot of 
mortals, yet lives to honor God, and serve and bless 
his church, so fitly illustrates the goodness of our 
heavenly Father, that we lay it before our readers 
substantially in the very words in which it was 
related to us : 

" At one time during my years of suffering, I had 
prayed, groaned, and begged to have matters differ- 
ent, till I thought — O God, forgive me for having 
such thoughts ! — that I could not live any longer ; 
and I determined to go down to the wharf and step 
off into the water, and let no one know anything 
about it. From day to day this temptation grew 
stronger and stronger, until it seemed to be the best 
thing that I could do to escape the sorrows which the 
wickedness of others had brought upon me. 

"After some time, one Saturday night, having 
finished my work in the mill where I was compelled 
to labor, I thought, ' Now I will go and step oft* from 
the wharf and end the whole.' I prepared myself to 



62 THE GUIDING HAND. 



perform the dreadful purpose, but just upon starting 
I bethought me of an aged Christian pair whose 
friendship and affection I had prized for several 
years, and whose sympathy had been deep and ready 
in all my sorrows ; and I thought I could not bear to 
die without seeing them, and I felt that I must go 
and take one more look at their dear old loving faces 
before I resigned myself to my bitter fate. 

" Accordingly I entered their humble cottage, and 
the good sister said, 'Glad to see you ; Ave have been 
speaking of you; — sit down.' 

" 'No,' said I, for I feared they would begin to 
speak to me ; ' I am in a great hurry, but I thought I 
would stop a moment.' 

" I was going out without sitting down, but they 
both said, ' You must stop long enough to hear this 
chapter read,' and the old man began to read from 
the Bible which lay open before him ; and as I was 
unwilling to be rude, out of respect I tarried and sat 
down. Slowly and reverently the good old man 
read from the thirty-seventh psalm the precious 
words : — 

Fret not thyself because of evil doers, 
Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, 
And wither as the green herb. 
Trust in the Lord, and do good ; 

So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 
Delight thyself also in the Lord ; 
And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 
Commit thy way unto the Lord ; 
Trust also in him ; and he shall bring it to pass. 
And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 63 

And thy judgment as the noonday. 

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him : 
Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, 
Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. 
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath : 
Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. 
For evil doers shall be cut off: 

But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. 
For yet a little while — and the wicked shall not be : 
Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place ; and it shall not be. 
But the meek shall inherit the earth ; 
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 

The wicked plotteth against the just, 
And gnasheth upon him with his teeth. 
The Lord shall laugh at him : 
For he seeth that his day is coming. 

The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, 
To cast down the poor and needy, 
And to slay such as be of upright conversation. 
Their sword shall enter into their own heart, 
And their bows shall be broken. 

A little that a righteous man hath 
Is better than the riches of many wicked. 
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken : 
But the Lord upholdeth the righteous. 

The Lord knoweth the days of the upright : 
And their inheritance shall be forever. 
They shall not be ashamed in the evil time : 
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 
But the wicked shall perish, 

And the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs : 
They shall consume : — into smoke shall they consume away. 
The wicked borroweth and payeth not again : 
But the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth. 
For such as be blest of him shall inherit the earth ; 
And they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. 

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord ; 
And he delighteth in his way. 



64 THE GUIDING HAND. 

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: 

For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. 

I have been young, and now am old ; 

Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, 

Nor his seed begging bread. 

He is ever merciful, and lendeth ; 

And his seed is blessed. 

Depart from evil, and do good ; 
And dwell for evermore. 
For the Lord loveth judgment, 
And forsaketh not his saints ; 
They are preserved forever: 
But the seed of the wicked shall be cut oif. 
The righteous shall inherit the land, 
And dwell therein forever. 

The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, 
And his tongue talketh of judgment. 
The law of his God is in his heart ; 
None of his steps shall slide. 
The wicked watcheth the righteous, 
And seeketh to slay him. 
The Lord will not leave him in his hand, 
Nor condemn him when he is judged. 
Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, 
And he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: 
When the wicked are cut off thou shalt see it. 

I have seen the wicked in great power, 
And spreading himself like a green bay tree. 
Yet he passed away — and, lo, lie was not! 
Yea, I sought him — but he could not be found! 
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: 
For the end of that man is peace ! 
But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: 
The end of the wicked shall be cut oif. 
But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord : 
He is their strength in the time of trouble. 
And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: 
He shall deliver them from the wicked, 
And save them because they trust in him. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 65 

" I cannot describe the emotions of that hour, as I 
listened to the calm, tender, comforting voice of that 
godly man, and to those more precious and consoling 
words in which the Holy Spirit spoke to me that 
night. In the whole compass of the sacred volume 
there was not another passage so specially appro- 
priate to my state and feelings as that. And it came 
to me as a new revelation, something which I did 
not know that I had ever seen before. And when 
he had finished the psalm, and said, ' Let us get 
down and thank the Lord,' I hesitated ; — could / 
pray? — could I live any longer? 'Yes, blessed 
Jesus,' I said, ' I will sutler on,' and falling on my 
knees with them around their humble altar, I felt 
my heart melt, my purpose change, and the dark 
temptation to take my life, which had haunted me so 
long, vanished from my mind. My hurry was over ; 
— I could stay as well as not, to hear the words of 
consolation and trust that distilled from their lips 
upon my stricken heart, and I went forth strength- 
ened to ' run with patience the race that was set 
before me, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher 
of our faith.' 

" Years have passed away since then ; God has been 
gracious unto me, and delivered my soul from death, 
mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 
My aged Christian friends still live, and pray, and 
cheer the desolate and sad, and their home has been 
an ark of rest, and a bethel of blessing to many a 
tossed and troubled child of tears. But they have 

never yet learned how much their faithful love was 

* 3 



66 THE GUIDING HAND. 

blessed to one poor soul, upon that sad Saturday 
evening, when my feet had well-nigh slipped in the 
path of darkness, sorrow and despair." 

Such was the story, the scenes and circumstances 
of which, together with all the persons concerned in 
it, are well known to the writer, who has placed it 
upon record in the hope that it may comfort some 
other soul in the extremity of grief, and also encour- 
age the children of God to ever speak a word of 
consolation to the weak and weary ones, trusting in 
God to give the increase and bless the efforts made 
to glorify his name. 



THE PEISOKER OF GLATZ. 

Dr. W. F. Besser, pastor of Waldenburg, in Upper 
Silesia, in his practical commentaries, relates the fol- 
lowing incident which occurred not far from the place 
where he resides. 

In a cleft of a mountain range in Upper Silesia, 
through which the wild and raging Neisse forces its 
passage down to the Oder, stands the impregnable 
Prussian fortress of Glatz, a natural fastness, almost 
unequalled in the world, begirt by mountain-peaks 
like walls, and fortified yet more by human skill. 
The valley itself is shut out from the rest of the 
world ; and one who is enclosed by the massive walls 
and gratings of the castle is an exile from the world, 
as if buried alive. Woe to the man imprisoned in 
Glatz! Everything calls out to him, "No hope 
remains for thee ! no hope !" 



THE GUIDIXG HAND. (j7 

Here, in the second decade of this century, lay the 

Count of M , hitherto petted and thronged, now 

hopelessly immured behind bolts and bars. By trea- 
son against the realm, and especially by personal 
violence offered to Frederic William III. of Prussia, 
he had drawn down the rage of that monarch on his 
head, and was condemned to solitary imprisonment 
for life. For a whole year he lay in his frightful, 
lonely cell, without one star of hope in cither his outer 
or inner sky, for he was a skeptic. They had left him 
only one book, a Bible ; and this for a long time he 
would not read, or if forced to take it up to kill time 
and relieve his consuming weariness, it was only read 
with anger and gnashing of teeth against the God it 
reveals. 

But sore affliction, that dreadful and yet blessed 
agent of God, that has brought back to the Good 
Shepherd many a wandering sheep, was effectual with 

the Count of M . The more he read his Bible, the 

more he felt the pressure of the gentle hand of God 
on his forlorn and hopeless heart. 

On a rough and stormy November night, when the 
mountain gales howled round the fortress, the rain 
fell in torrents, and the swollen and foaming Neisse 
rushed roaring down the valley, the Count lay sleep- 
less on his cot. The tempest in his breast was as 
fearful as that without. His whole past life rose 
before him ; he was convicted of his manifold short- 
comings and sins ; he felt that the source of all his 
misery lay in Ms forsaking God. For the first time 
in his life his heart was soft, and his eyes wet with 



68 THE GUIDING HAND. 

tears of genuine repentance. He rises from his cot, 
opens his Bible, and his eye falls on Psalm 1. 15 : 
' 'Call upon Me in the day of trouble ; I will deliver 
thee, and thou shalt glorify me." This word of God 
reaches the depths of his soul ; he falls on his knee:; 
for the first time since he was a child, and cries to 
God for mercy, and that gracious and compassionate 
God, who turns not away from the first movement 
of faith towards him, heard the cry of this sufferer 
in the storm-beaten dungeon of Glatz, and gave him 
not only spiritual but temporal deliverance. 

The same night, in his castle at Berlin, King Fred- 
eric William III. lay sleepless in bed. Severe bodily 
pains tormented him, and in his utter exhaustion he 
beowd of God to grant him a sinoie hour of refresh- 
ing sleep. The favor was granted ; and when he 
woke again he said to his wife, the gracious Louise, 
"God has looked upon me very graciously, and I 
may well be thankful to him. Who in my kingdom 
has wronged me most ? I will forgive him." 

"The Count ofM " replied Louise, "who is 

imprisoned in Glatz." 

"You are right," said the sick king; "let him lie 
pardoned." 

Day had not dawned over Berlin ere a courier was 
despatched to Silesia, bearing to the prisoner in Glatz 
pardon and release. The prayer of penitential faith 
had been heard, and deliverance was granted by the 
providence of God. 

And the God of our fathers still lives ; he hears the 
cry of his children, and many times he answers even 



THE GUIDING HAND. 69 

before we rightly call upon him. Now, as in ages 
past, the Lord looks down from heaven to behold 
the sighing of the prisoner, and to loose his bonds ; 
and still, as of old, the king's heart is in the hands of 
the Lord, and he turneth it as the conduits of water 
are turned. Let us make him our refuge, and con- 
fide in his power with an abiding and unshaken trust. 



THE BILL AND THE BUTTEKFLY. 

A poor Christian woman in Buckinghamshire — I 
believe Berkhampstead — was bereaved of her husband 
after a long illness, and left unprovided for, the only 
thing of value being a large chest of tools. The hus- 
band had only just been buried, when a neighbor, 
bearing no good character, called on the widow, and 
presented a bill for work done, altogether beyond the 
widow's power to pay. The work had been done in 
the husband's lifetime, was paid for by him, and the 
bill receipted, of which the widow had a distinct 
recollection. It availed not for her to assert the fact. 
The payment of the bill was pressed again, and long- 
ing eyes cast at the chest of tools. In great distress, 
the widow retired up stairs to pray, for all effort to 
find the receipted bill was vain. 

While engaged in prayer, a butterfly flew in at the 
open window down stairs. The widow's little child 
chased it until it flew behind the chest of tools. Just 
then the mother came in, and the child begged her to 
remove the box that he might get the butterfly. The 
neighbor offered at once to do so ; and while he was 



70 THE GUIDING HAND. 

removing it from the wall, a piece of paper fell clown 
behind, which the widow taking up, found to be the 
lost bill receipted as she had said. She was overcome 
with praise and gratitude to. God, who had answered 
her prayer by means of the butterfly, and caused even 
her enemy himself to discover the missing bill. 



A PROVIDENTIAL VISIT. 

Two ladies in New York, active members of a 
temperance society in that city, heard of a poor woman 
who was intemperate, but who was, notwithstanding, 
possessed of many highly estimable traits of character. 
They resolved immediately to call upon her, and, if 
possible, get her signature to the temperance pledge. 
They set out in the afternoon on their errand of 
mercy. With considerable difficulty they succeeded 
in finding the dwelling where she resided. Many 
poor families dwelt under the same roof. But at 
length they entered the room occupied by the family, 
the mother of which they sought. A woman, in mid- 
dle life, was seated in a chair in the centre of the 
floor, with two trunks before her, apparently engaged 
in arranging the clothes. 

The ladies introduced themselves to the woman, 
and told her plainly, but kindly, of the object of their 
visit. For a moment the woman appeared perfectly 
amazed, her lips trembled, tears stood in her eyes, 
her cheeks turned pale, and then, clasping her hands 
with fervor, she looked upward and exclaimed, "My 
God, is it possible?" 



THE GUIDING HAM). 71 

The ladies were uncertain- what might be the cause 
of the manifestation of this deep emotion, when the 
woman put her hand into her bosom, and, drawing 
out ;i shilling, showed it to the ladies, saying, "This 
mcjney I had placed in my bosom, intending this 
afternoon to purchase poison with it, that to-night I 
might put an end to my wretched existence. And I 
was just now engaged in sorting out the clothes of 
my poor children to relieve my husband, as much as 
possible, from embarrassment after my death.*' 

Encouraged by the interest which these benevolent 
ladies manifested in her behalf, this poor woman 
resolved to make a new effort. She said that she had 
endeavored again and again to escape from the thrall- 
dom of this terrible vice, but had been unable to do 
so. But cheered and strengthened by the sympathy 
of those who had come to lend her a helping hand, 
she signed the pledge. Many months have now 
passed away, and she is a temperate woman, and her 
home is the abode of frugality and peace. 



THE WET GEIST. 

"X have a story for your Guiding Hand,*' said a 
minister one day. "Let us have it, then," was 
our reply. "1 suppose," said he, "I owe my life to 
the providence of God ; and I will write out the 
story for you." He did so, and it was as follows : 

"My father was a man of prayer, and in our home 
the family altar was never permitted to fall down, nor 
its lire expire or grow dim. Around that altar our 



72 THE GUIDING HAND. 

dependence on God was constantly acknowledged, 
and the divine blessing continually invoked. Nor 
was that blessing sought in vain, but mercies new 
and fresh from day to day were granted in answer to 
a father's prayers. 

"One bright morning in the spring of 1850, after 
commending us to the Divine protection, my father 
put two bushels of rye into his wagon and started for 
the grist-mill at Rockland, E. I., a few miles distant 
from our home. When more than half way there he 
had to cross a bridge called "The Wharf," along the 
sides of which there were no railings, but only some 
logs hud upon the end of the planks. 

"When on the middle of this bridge the horse 
stopped and began to back. My father leaped from 
the wagon, and the horse continued backing till the 
hind wheels went over the logs and off the edge of 
the bridge, and the wagon-seat and grain-bao- tum- 
bled out and fell into the stream. At this moment 
the horse stopped, the forward wheels caught on the 
log, and the hinder part of the wagon hung over the 
edge of the bridge, being held by the horse and by 
the forward wheels. 

"Four or five men soon came to the rescue ; the 
wagon was lifted back, the grist fished up from the 
water, and in half an hour my father was on his way 
back home to dry his grist and get it ready for grind- 
again. 

'There was mystery about this whole transaction. 
We could not imagine what had made the horse back 
when upon the bridge. He showed no signs of fright, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 73 

and had never acted so before. My father was 
troubled. He had earnestly prayed that morning, 
that the angel of the Lord might encamp round 
about us that day, and now to be subjected to such an 
accident and so much inconvenience, was something 
of a trial to his faith, though it did not shake his con- 
fidence in God. 

-'He returned home, and we went to work to dry our 
grain and prepare it for grinding ; but when we spread 
out the rye upon a cloth in the sun to dry, we noticed, 
scattered all through it, fragments of a line, glittering 
substance, which on examination proved to be glass! 
Thousands on thousands of little fragments and 
splinters of broken glass were mingled with those 
two bushels of rye, — enough to have caused the 
death of all our family and a hundred others if the 
grain had been ground and baked and eaten. 

"We were amazed at this revelation ; and with what 
grateful hearts we knelt around the family altar and 
thanked God for his wonderful providence which had 
so strangely preserved our lives. 

"But how came the glass thus mingled with the 
grain? It was all explained very soon. The rye 
had been kept in an open barrel, and over this barrel 
our neighbors had smoothed axe-handles, using pieces 
of glass to scrape and polish them. These pieces of 
glass were thus broken and splintered, and the frag- 
ments dropped unnoticed into the grain, and were 
measured up and placed in the bag to be carried to 
the mill. Xo one suspected the danger, and if that 
grist had been ground no human power could have 



74 THE GUIDING HAND. 

averted the calamity, or saved our family from the 
terrible influence of a poison so deadly as powdered 
glass. God in his providence interposed and pre- 
served our lives ; — truly it is but right that they 
should be consecrated to his service." 



THE YOUNG DELIVEEEE. 

The late Mr. Timothy Bradbury happened to dine 
one day at the house of Mrs. Tooley, a lady in Lon- 
don, who was famous in her day for the love she bore 
to Christ, and to all his servants and people. Her 
house and table were open to them all, she being like 
Lydia in that respect. Mr. Timothy Rogers, who 
wrote the book on religious melancholy, and was 
himself many years under that distemper, happened 
to dine there the same day with Mr. Bradbury 7 ; and, 
after dinner, he entertained Mrs. Tooley and him 
with some stories concerning his father, who was one 
of the ejected ministers in the year 1662. Mr. 
Rogers particularly related that he had often heard 
his father, with a good deal of pleasure, tell himself 
and others, of a deliverance which he had from being 
sent to prison, after his mittimus was written out for 
that purpose. He lived near the house of one Sir 
Richard Craddock, a justice of the peace, who was a 
violent persecutor of the dissenters. He bore a par- 
ticular hatred to Mr. Rogers, and wanted above fill 
things to have him in his power. A fair opportunity 
offered. He heard that Mr. Rogers was to preach vA 
a place some miles distant ; and he hired two men to 



THE GUIDING HAXD. 75 

go as spies, who were to take the names of all the 
hearers, and to witness against Mr. Rogers and them. 

The thing succeeded to his wish; they brought the 
names of several persons ; and Sir Richard sent and 
warned them and Mr. Rogers to appear before him. 
Accordingly, they all came with trembling hearts, for 
they knew the violence of the man. 

While they were in his great hall, expecting to be 
called upon, there happened to come into it a little 
girl, a grandchild of Sir Richard's, six or seven years 
of age. She looked at Mr. Rogers, and was much 
taken with his venerable appearance; and he, being 
fond of children, got her on his knee, and made a 
great deal of her. At last Sir Richard sent one of his 
servants to inform the company that one of the wit- 
nesses was fallen sick ; therefore he warned them to 
come on another day, which he named to them. 

Accordingly they came ; and the crime was then 
proved. lie ordered their mittimus to be written to 
send them to gaol. Mr. Rogers, before he came, 
expecting to see the little girl again, had brought some 
sweetmeats to give her — and he was not disappointed ; 
for she came running to him, and was fonder of him 
than she was the day before. She was a particular 
favorite of her grandfather's, and had got such an 
ascendency over him that he could deny her nothing. 
She was, withal, a child of violent spirit, and could 
bear no contradiction. Once, it seems, when she was 
contradicted in something, she ran a pen-knife into 
her arm, which nearly cost her her life. After this, 
Sir Richard would not suffer her to be contradicted 



76 THE GUIDLNG HAND. 

in any one thing. While she was sitting on Mr. 
Rogers' knee, she looked wishfully at him, and he 
said, — 

"I believe your grandfather is going to send me 
and my friends to gaol." 

"To gaol," said she ; "why, Avhat have you done ?" 

"Why, I did nothing but preach at such a place, 
and they did nothing but hear me." 

"But," said she, "my grandpapa shall not send 
you to gaol." 

"Ay, but my dear," said he, fct I believe he is now 
making out our mittimus." 

She ran immediately to the chamber where her 
grandfather was, and knocked with her head and heels 
till she got in, and said, — 

"What are you going to do with my good old 
gentleman here in the hall ?" 

"That is nothing to you," said her grandfather, 
"get you about your business." 

"But I will not," said she ; "he tells me that you 
are ooino- to send him and his friends to <>aol ; and if 
you send them, I will drown myself in the pond as 
soon as they are gone ; I will indeed." 

When he saw the child Avas peremptory, it shook 
and overcame him. He stepped into the hall, with 
the mittimus in his hand, and said, " I had here made 
out your mittimus to send you all to gaol, but at my 
grandchild's request, I set you all at liberty." 

They all bowed, and thanked his Worship. Mr. 
Rogers stepped up to the child, and laid his hand 
upon her head, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, said, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 77 

" God bless you, my dear child ! May the blessing of 
that God whose cause you now plead, though a* yet 
you know him not, be upon you in life, at death, and 
throughout eternity!" And then he and his friends 
went away. 

Mrs. Tooley listened with uncommon attention to 
the story; and looking at Mr. Rogers, said, "And 
are you that Mr. Rogers' son?'' 

"Yes, madam," answered he, "I am." 

"Well," said she, "as long as I have been ac- 
quainted with you, I never knew that before. And 
now I will tell you something you never knew before : 
I am the very girl your dear father blessed. It made 
an impression upon me I could never forget." Upon 
this, he and Mr. Bradbury were desirous to know 
how she, who had been brought up with an aversion 
to serious religion, came to be so eminent for it. 

Mrs. Tooley complied with their request, and very 
freely told them her story. She said that after her 
grandfather's death, she was left the sole heiress of 
his great estate ; and being in the bloom of youth, and 
having none to control her, she ran after all the fash- 
ionable diversions of the times in which she lived, 
without any maimer of restraint. But at the same 
time she confessed that at the end of them all she 
found a dissatisfaction, both with herself and them, 
that always struck a damp to her heart, which she 
did not know how to get rid of but by running the 
same fruitless round over and over again. 

She contracted some slight illness, upon which she 
thought she would go to Bath, hearing that that was 



78 THE GUIDING HAND. 

a place of pleasure, as well as health. When she 
came there, she was led by Providence to consult an 
apothecary, who happened to be a very worthy, 
religious man. He inquired what ailed her. 

" Why, doctor," said she, "I do not ail much as 
to my body ; but I have an uneasy mind that I cannot 
get rid of." 

" Truly, Miss," said he, " I was so too, till I met 
with a book that cured me of it." 

" Books ! " said she, " I get all the books I can lay 
my hands on : such as plays, novels, romances, etc., 
but after I have read them my uneasiness is the same." 

"That may be," said he, "but the book I now 
speak of, I can say of it what I can say of no other I 
ever read ; I never tire in reading of it, but can 
begin to read it again as if I had never read it before. 
And I always see something new in it." 

"Pray, doctor," said she, "what book is that? 
Cannot I get sight of it?" "Yes," said he, "if you 
speak me fair, I can help you to it." " Pray get it 
me then, doctor, and I will give you anything you 
please." "Yes," said he, "if you promise one thing, 
I'll bring it you; and that is, that you will read it 
over carefully ; and if you should not see much in it 
at first, that you will give it a second reading." 

She promised faithfully she would ; and after 
raising her curiosity, by coming twice or thrice with- 
out bringing it, he at last brought it, took it out of 
his pocket, and "gave it her. It was a New Testa- 
ment. When she looked on it she said, " Poh (with 
a flirt) ! I could get that at any time." 



THE GUIDING HAND. 79 

"Why, Miss, so you might," replied the doctor; 
"but remember I have your solemn promise that 
you will read it carefully." 

" Well," said she, " though I never read it before, 
I will give it a reading." 

Accordingly she began to read it ; and soon saw 
something in it which deeply concerned her, and 
which caused her to grow ten times more uneasy 
than she was before. So she got away back to 
London, to see what the diversions there would do 
again. But all was in vain. 

She lodged at the court end of the town, and had 
a gentlewoman with her by way of a companion. 
One Saturday evening she dreamed that she was in 
a place of worship, and heard a sermon which she 
could remember nothing of when she awaked, but 
the text ; but the dream made such an impression on 
her mind, that the idea she had of the place and the 
minister's face, was as strong as if she had been 
acquainted with both for a number of years. She 
told her dream to her companion on the Lord's-day 
morning ; and after breakfast said she was resolved 
to go in quest of it, if she should go from one end 
of London to the other. 

Accordingly they set out, and went to this and the 
other church as they passed along; but none of them 
answered what she saw in her dream. At one o'clock 
they found themselves in the heart of the city ; they 
then went into an eating house, to get some dinner, 
and then set out again in search of the place. 
About half-past two they were in the Poultry, and 



80 THE GUIDING HAND. 

seeing a great many people going down the Old 
Jewry, Mrs. Tooley determined to see where they 
were going. She mixed herself among them, and 
they carried her to the Meeting-house in the Old 
Jewry. So soon as she had entered the door, and 
looked about, she turned to her companion, and said, 
"This is the very place I saw in my dream." She 
had not stood long, till Mr. Shower, minister of the 
place, went up into the pulpit ; as soon as she looked 
on him she said, " This is the very man I saw in my 
dream ! and if every part of it hold true, he will take 
for his text, Psalm cxvi. 7. Return unto thy rest , 
O my soul ; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with 
thee'' When he rose to pray, she was all attention, 
and every sentence went to her heart. Having fin- 
ished prayer, he took that very passage for his text ; 
and there God met with her in a saving manner ; 
and she at last gained what she so long sought for in 
vain elsewhere, rest in Christ to her troubled soul. 
The foregoing account of Mr. Rogers and Mrs. 
Tooley is sufficiently authenticated by the gentleman 
from whom the writer of the letter had it, the Eev. 
Dr. Wood, at Norwich. 



SAYED FROM A ROBBER BY RAIN. 

A merchant was one day returning from market. 
He was on horseback, and behind him was a valise 
filled with money. The rain fell with violence, and 
the good old man was wet to his skin. At this he 
was vexed, and murmured because God had given 



THE GUIDING HAND. 81 

him such bad weather for his journey. He soon 
reached the border of a thick forest. What was his 
terror on beholding on one side of the road a robber, 
with leveled gun, aiming at him and attempting to 
tire ! But, the powder being wet by the rain, the 
gun did not go off, and the merchant, giving spurs 
to his horse, fortunately had time to escape. 

As soon as he found himself safe, he said to him- 
self, "How wrong was I, not to endure the rain 
patiently, as sent by Providence ! If the weather had 
been dry and fair, I should not, probably, have been 
alive at this hour, and my little children would have 
expected my return in vain. The rain which caused 
me to murmur, came at a fortunate moment, to save 
my life and preserve my property." And thus it is 
with a multitude of our afflictions ; by causing us 
slight and short sufferings, they preserve us from 
others far o-reater, and of longer duration. 



THE MASTODOX'S BOKES. 

Many displays of God's good providence are never 
recorded, because of the inability on the part of those 
concerned to place them in form for publication. The 
following instance may be worthy of perusal. 

Many years ago there resided in Crawford county, 
Ohio, an estimable gentleman, who was the owner of 
a large flouring mill, in the purchase of which he had 
become deeply involved in debt. What made his 
condition still worse was, the proceeds of the mill 
were not sufficient to liquidate the claim, and no 



82 THE GUIDING HAND. 

other visible resource was open to him for its liquid- 
ation. 

As the time for the payment of the mortgage 
approached, no way appeared to be opened up, and 
as the mortgage and interest when due would amount 
to the sum of seventeen hundred dollars, it seemed 
almost utterly impossible that it could be paid. 

Still, with some hope in the providence of God, 
the proprietor labored not only in the mill, but made 
some additional improvements in connection there- 
with, and while employed in improving the "mill 
race" he discovered the complete remains of a Masto- 
doir, which being put in proper shape, he sold to a 
museum in Columbus, Ohio, and, strange to relate, 
it netted him just seventeen hundred dollars. His 
mortgage was paid up and cancelled, and the good 
providence of God clearly made apparent, so much so, 
that the irreligious were forced to acknowledge it. 



THE FIRST LOAD OF WOOD. 

Long before our coal mines were discovered, this 
load of wood was cut and burned. Those were the 
days when our grandfathers in their snow-shoes used 
to walk straight over the tops of the fences, and small 
houses were sometimes quite covered up by the heavy 
falls of snow ; those were the days of which our grand- 
mothers used to tell us, as we gathered around the 
blazing tire in. the long winter evenings. The story 
we n;)W relate is one of those then told. 

At this period, there lived in one of our cities a 



THE GUIDING HAND. 83 

lone widow, in feeble health, poor in this world's 
goods, but rich in faith. It was a very cold winter, 
and during its progress there occurred one of the 
severest snow-storms ever known. Day after day the 
white embankment rose higher and higher around the 
city, filling every road and lane. The formers in the 
surrounding country, who had supplied the city with 
wood, found the roads quite impassable. Weeks 
passed, and fuel became very scarce. Even the 
wealthy citizens began to be in want, and to watch 
. eagerly for the first arrival. The farmer who should 
bring the first load into the city might receive almost 
any price he chose to name. 

The little pile in the widow's back yard grew smaller 
and smaller, until none remained. No wood had yet 
been brought in, and when it was brought she well 
kneAV she should not be able to pay the price asked 
for it. Must she not suffer, perhaps perish with cold, 
before she could purchase ? She had no resort but 
prayer. Not only the cattle, but the wood upon a 
thousand hills, belonged to God, — her God, who had 
promised to be the widow's stay and staff. 

To the eye of sense there seemed no prospect of 
relief; but this humble Christian lived by faith, not 
by sense. She was not disheartened. It was her 
part to pray ; it was God's part to find a way to answer 
her prayers. 

At last, one farmer, more enterprising than his 
neighbors, ploughed his way through, and entered 
the city with the first load of wood. But the load 
of Avood was not sold. On it went, and paused not 



84 THE GUIDING HAND. 

till it reached the widows door. The kind-hearted 
farmer knew that she must be distressed, and God 
put it into his heart to go to her relief. Thus it was 
that the first load of wood brought to the city found 
its way not to the mansion of the wealthy citizen, but 
to the poor widow, who had neither silver nor gold, 
only faith in God, and an interest in his covenant 
love and faithfulness. 



THE OLD FLINT-LOCK. 

My grandfather, in early life, served in the Con- 
tinental army, and afterwards removed from Connec- 
ticut and settled in the wilds of Vermont. 

He lived at this time with my father on the farm 
where he had cut the first tree, in the then almost 
unbroken forest. Always given to early rising, it 
was his habit to build the morning fire — build is the 
proper term ; for to lay in order the huge pile of logs 
and lesser wood, in the wide-mouthed chimneys of 
the olden time, was a bit of civil architecture, that 
would require a building-committee nowadays. 

On one occasion , the fire had gone out on the hearth, 
and as friction-matches were in the future, as well as 
percussion locks and air-tight stoves, there was noth- 
ing better to be done, than to go to the nearest house 
for coals, or try for a spark from the flint-lock of an 
old continental musket, that always hung over the 
chimney-piece. Those old muskets combined great 
awkwardness and ingenuity ; the fiery spark upon 
which the whole enginery depended lay within a dull- 



THE GUIDING HAND. 85 

looking, smoke-colored bit of flint stone, only brought 
out, as if in retaliation, by a foe of steel. Taking 
down the gun, he blew down the barrel, to make sure 
that it was not loaded, and put fresh priming into the 
gun. The spark descended, flashed the powder into 
blaze, and soon a bright fire went roaring and crack- 
ling up the chimney, boiling the family tea-kettle as 
if nothing unusual had happened. And the family 
slept on equally unconscious that a miracle had been 
performed — that an angel had come down, as it were, 
at the morning sacrifice, and stayed the forces of 
nature, for their preservation. But at tea, when my 
grandfather gave charge to give good heed to the 
fire the story all came out. And notwithstanding 
that my grandfather was a soldier of the Revolution, 
and understood all the ways and tricks of the regula- 
tion arms; notwithstanding the gun was reliable, 
"true to what was best within," it was heavily loaded 
still, having been double-charged the day previous 
for a marauding hawk that had wisely kept beyond 
range. I shall never forget the look in my father's 
face, as he took down the gun and stepping out upon 
the high terrace in front of the house, with one spring 
of the lock, without any fresh priming, discharged it 
with a deafening report, the contents plowing a black, 
jagged rent in the green turf of the slope below. 

My grandfather regarded it as a special provi- 
dence, foir he knew how that death-laden tube had 
been in direct range of my parents' sleeping apart- 
ment and at an exact level with a row of little heads 
in the trundle-bed, when the spark went down that 



86 THE GUIDING HAND. 

kindled the kitchen fire, the remainder being re- 
strained. It was a lesson of the personality and love 
of God that has never been forgotten. The thought 
of God had come close to ns and wrapped ns about 
like a garment. The idea of a general providence, 
that takes in nobody in particular, is no less absurd 
than the idea of a general shower that waters and 
refreshes the field, causing it to bring forth by Land- 
fills, no single rootlet or blade being reached ill par- 
ticular. 

Blessed are they who abide under the shadow of 
the Almighty — under the covert of his wings. "How 
excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore 
the children of men put their trust under the shadow 
of thy wings." 



MONEY FROM A MISER. 

"Fifty years ago," writes an aged man from Ver- 
mont, "when I was a small boy, I had a good pious 
mother. One time she was in a great strait, for food 
or fuel, I have forgotten which. 

"Though without earthly resources, she yet had 
great faith in her heavenly Father, and looked con- 
fidingly to him. I did not share her confidence, and 
thought within myself, 'I wonder, mother, how you 
can think the Lord will send you any money.' 

"But He did send it, and in a wonderful manner. 
Soon after, an old, rich miser came into the house, 
and somehow or other, dropped his old purse, nearly 
full of silver money, on the floor. The money 



THE GUIDING HAND. 87 

scattered well, and rolled in all directions, and we 
picked it up and hunted for it till he was satisfied, 
and said, 'I guess we've got it all; if there is any 
more, you may have it.' 

' 'When he was gone, it seemed as if it was right 
under the soles of his feet, we found just the sum she 
wanted ! I believe that helped my faith wonderfully. 
It seems as if I had thought of it, since, a thousand 
times, when tempted to distrust my heavenly Father's 
care." 



DELIVERANCE OF JAMES MEIKLE. 

YThen Mr. Meikle was surgeon's-mate on board 
the Portland, which office he filled with credit for 
several years, he had at Leghorn occasion to remark 
the interposition of Providence, in a very singular 
manner hi his behalf. Several of the gentlemen 
belonging to the ship had formed a party, in order 
to visit the city of Pisa, which is not more than 
twelve miles distant, and entertain themselves with 
the sight of its famous hanging tower, and the other 
curiosities of the place. Mr. Meikle, starting in the 
morning of the 12th of April, went on foot by him- 
self, and enjoyed, he says, by the way, "pleasant 
meditations on the love of Christ." The rest fol- 
lowed on horseback. The afternoon was far ad- 
vanced before they had sufficiently gratified their 
curiosity. In the evening Mr. Meikle's companions 
returned ; but he, being fatigued, and observing that 
the wind was foul, so that the Portland, which was 



bb THE GUIDING HAND. 

to convoy, could not sail, ventured to remain at 
Pisa. Early next morning he set out for Leghorn : 
but the wind had changed during the night ; and 
before he had reached the city the fleet had weighed, 
and were already several leagues on their way. 

By this occurrence he was thrown into inconceiv- 
able perplexity. In a strange place, ignorant of the 
language, with no clothes except what were on his 
body, with little money in his pocket, without one 
personal acquaintance, and even but few Englishmen 
being left in the place to take interest in the distresses 
of their countryman ; afraid, besides, of the fate of his 
papers and other property on board, of the loss of 
what was due to him on the ship's books, and of 
being detained long, before he could find an opportu- 
nity of getting home, — what was to be done ! In 
his distress he applied to the English consul ; but 
every expedient suggested by him, and sojne others 
whom he consulted, misgave. 

After thus spending the remainder of Friday, and 
the whole of Saturday, in fruitless contrivances how 
to extricate himself from the embarrassments of his 
situation, the Sabbath came ; on which he resolved, 
as much as possible, to banish care, and to commit 
himself to God. It was his custom, when an enemy 
appeared, or when at any time he went on shore, to 
put his Bible in his pocket, that, in any event, he 
might not be deprived of the consolation which the 
perusal of it is calculated to afford ; and on this occa- 
sion he remarks, that he was so happy as to have 
along with him his dear companion, the Bible. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 89 

Early in the morning, therefore, he retired to a 
forest, which lay a considerable way out of town, on 
the road to Pisa, and spent the day in devotional 
exercises. He sang psalm lxiii, "a psalm written 
ina wilderness;" which, says he, "gave me great 
comfort in my wilderness." He read psalm cii, 
which well suits the afflicted when he is over- 
whelmed, and poured out his complaint before the 
Lord. He engaged repeatedly in prayer, and in 
meditation on God and the dispensations of his prov- 
idence towards his people, and himself in particular. 

As the day advanced, the wind sprung up, and it 
began to rain. He took shelter from the storm in 
the trunk of a hollow tree, and standing within it, he 
wrote a few verses expressive of the wisdom and 
goodness of the Supreme Disposer of events ; but the 
wind still blowing high, the evening growing chill, 
and he becoming faint, for he had tasted nothing all 
that day but a draught of water, and eaten little the 
day before, he returned to the city. Calling at a 
house to which he was invited, he had not sat long 
before information was brought him that the English 
fleet had been driven back by contrary winds, and 
were arrived in the roads. Animated by this delight- 
ful, but unexpected intelligence of an event which so 
evidently marked the care of Providence, he made all 
possible haste toward the shore; but it was late, it 
blew hard, and it was morning before he could get 
on board. As he rowed toward the ship it fell 
calmer, the wind became fair, the signal for sailing 
was hoisted, and within two hours after he entered 



90 THE GUIDING HAND. 

the Portland, the fleet were under way with a fair 
wind and a fresh gale. 

The wind which chilled him, and the rain which 
drove him for shelter into the trunk of a tree, were 
the instruments of his deliverance. " This interpo- 
sition of Providence for me," he says, " was aston- 
ishing." It appears to have struck even the careless 
sailors with surprise ; for they hailed him as he 
approached the vessel, in their rough and irreligious 

manner, " Come along, you praying d 1 ;" adding, 

that the winds w^ould not permit them to leave Leg- 
horn without him. 



TREASURES HID IN THE SAND. 

In the seventeenth century, when the pilgrim 
fathers, having left their native land and removed to 
America, that they might find "freedom to worship 
God," had settled in Plymouth, they suffered great 
privations. Among other hardships they endured, 
they were sometimes in such straits for bread that 
the very crumbs of their former tables would have 
been a dainty to them. Necessity drove the women 
and children to the sea-side to look for a ship, which 
they expected to bring them provision, but no ship 
for many weeks appeared ; however they saw in the 
sand vast quantities of shell-fish, since called clams, 
such as are found to this day in extensive flats that 
stretch out from the shore into Plymouth harbor. 

Hunger impelled them to taste, and at length they 



THE GUIDING HANI). 91 

fed almost wholly on them ; and to their own aston- 
ishment, were as cheerful and healthy as they had 
been in England with plenty of the best provisions. 
The godly Elder Brewster, after they had all dined on 
clams without bread, returned God thanks, for caus- 
ing them to ' ' suck of the abundance of the seas 
and of treasures hid in the sand," a passage in Deuter- 
onomy (xxxiii. 19), a part of the blessing wherewith 
Moses blessed the tribe of Zebulun before his death, 
— -a passage till then unobserved by the company, 
but which ever after endeared the writings of Moses 
to them. 

We have sometimes dug and often eaten clams 
from these same flats, — the "clam bank" being 1 a 
bank whence the poor can always draw, for it never- 
breaks even in the hardest time, — and have marked 
the wisdom of Providence which sent the pilgrim 
fathers to that precise locality. Starting for some 
place in the vicinity of New York ; guided in another 
direction by a pilot who is supposed to have been 
bribed by the Dutch to land them elsewhere ; driven 
about by the winds and currents till he himself had lost 
his course ; brought in safety finally to that land-locked 
harbor, where countless tons of shell-fish lay buried in 
the sands, while the brooks and springs that emptied 
there swarmed with myriads of fish ; these wearied 
exiles found their home at last upon a bleak and bar- 
ren shore, but perhaps upon the best spot that could 
have been selected anywhere along the coast as a place 
of refuge and support for them in their poverty and 
trials that were to come. 



92 THE GUIDING HAND. 

CKOSSING THE LAKE. 

I went to prayer-meeting one Sabbath night rather 
reluctantly, says a writer in the Sunday School Sun. 
I preferred, it must be confessed, to stay at home and 
read. The night was so dark and cold, and home was 
so warm and pleasant, and then I did not care, I 
thought — but I fear my own heart was cold — to hear 
Mr. A's long exhortations, or Mr. B's cold prayers. 
What is the use of going? I said ; why not stay at 
home just for to-night? I went, however, to prayer- 
meeting, and I was glad I went ; for I heard much 
that night which benefited and interested me. The 
subject was God's Providence, and his goodness in 
answering prayers. After considerable talk upon 
the subject, and several fervent prayers, Dr. C. illus- 
trated the matter bj^ the following appropriate story : 

" A traveler came to the shore of a northern lake 
late one March evening, expecting to cross on the ice 
and then o-o on to his distant home. Asking for a 
conve} ance, he found that no one was willing to carry 
him over. The ice was unsafe. His business was 
urgent, and he was willing to attempt the passage, 
but not for a thousand dollars would any driver run 
the risk. At last a fellow traveler was persuaded 
by him to attempt the perilous journey on foot. 
Together they went along for a while cheerily and 
safely, but aware that the ice was growing thin and 
porous, so that in some places they could easily thrust 
their canes down through to the water. Then did 
the traveler realize his danger, and offer constant, 
fervent prayer to God that he would save his own life 



THE GUIDING HAND. 93 

and that of the impenitent friend he had urged to 
accompany him. 

' ' Silently they picked their way around the danger- 
ous places, hardly knowing how they went, but 
guided on in some mysterious manner. The shore 
was in sight, and breathing more freely, they thought 
the danger passed. Soon they saw stretched between 
them and the land a belt of open water shining in the 
clear moonlight. They were too weak and weary to 
call for assistance with any hope of an answer, and 
at that late hour it seemed unlikely that one would 
see them. Again a silent prayer was offered, and 
instantly from a house not far distant a person came 
forth with a plank in his hand which he placed over 
the water and called out, 

" ' Come over quickly.' They went and were saved. 
Then the Christian asked his companion, 

" 'How did 3 T ou feel when on the ice?' 

" 'I felt that I was going to perdition,' he replied, 
'and resolved if my life was spared to serve God.' 

' ' Reaching his home the pious traveler found that 
his wife, not knowing his clanger, or that he was on 
the lake, spent the whole night in praying for his 
safe return. Is not this a wonderful instance of God's 
overruling Providence and his willingness to answer 
prayer ?" 

It is wonderful, I thought, and as I returned to my 
home, the niHit seemed no longer so cold or dark, for 
I thought of the starlight be3 T ond the clouds, and the 
good Lord who ruleth over all, who sent his Spirit 
to shine into my heart. 



94 THE GUIDING HAND. 

A LIFE SAVED THROUGH A TRACT. 

A minister from Exeter stated that not far from 
where he lived, and quite in the country, there 
were two young ladies residing, and both were pious. 
It so happened that a poor American sailor, having 
taken up the employment of a pedlar, passed that 
way, called at the house of these young ladies, and 
taking his box of small wares from his shoulders, 
requested one of them to purchase some tracts. She 
replied, that there was a certain tract which she was 
anxious to find, and that she would look over his par- 
cel, and if it contained the one referred to, she would 
take it. She did so, and finding the tract she wanted, 
paid the man, and ordered the servants to provide 
him some refreshments, and went in haste to the door 
to receive a friend who had come from a distance to 
visit her. 

The poor man, mean time, gathered up his scattered 
wares, proceeded a considerable distance on his way, 
and having reached a retired spot, sat down by the 
side of the road, and taking his jack-knife from his 
pocket, began to. appease his hunger with the food so 
kindly provided for him. It so happened that in the 
course of the day a most horrible murder and robbery 
had been committed near this spot, and officers had 
been dispatched to seek out the criminal and bring 
him back to justice. 

A party of them approached this poor sailor, and 
finding him employed with a jack-knife, — the very 
instrument with which the murder w r as supposed to 



THE GUIDING HAND. 95 

have been perpetrated, — they seized him at once and 
put him in prison, where he remained three months 
awaiting his trial. During the whole period of his 
confinement he was employed in reading the Bible 
and religious books to his fellow-prisoners, and was 
so exemplary in his whole conduct as to attract the 
attention of the jailor, who kindly interested himself 
for him, listened to his tale of woe, and believed him 
innocent. 

When the trial came on, the case was of such an inter- 
esting nature that it drew together a vast concourse 
of people ; and after the examination had passed, and 
the judge had called for the verdict of guilty or not 
guilty, a voice was heard to issue from the crowd, 
"JVot guilty!" 

Every eye was directed to the spot whence the 
sound proceeded ; and immediately a young lady 
advanced, with a paper in her hand, and appeared 
before the judge. Her feelings at once overcame her, 
and she fainted ; but recovering herself, and being 
encouraged to proceed, if she had anything to say in 
defence of the prisoner at the bar, she stated to the 
judge the circumstances of having the tract of the 
poor man, presenting it at the same time, bearing the 
date of the day and hour when it was purchased. 
She stated further, that just as the man was about 
leaving her, a sister whom she had not seen for many 
years arrived from a distance, and as she was anxious, 
for a particular reason, to remember the day and hour 
of her arrival, she made a memorandum of it on this 
tract, which she had happened to have in her hand. 



96 THE GUIDING HAND. 

While she was making this statement to the judge, 
the poor prisoner bent forward with earnestness to 
discover what gentle voice was pleading in his behalf; 
for he had thought himself friendless and alone in the 
world, and was comforted that any one should take a 
part in his sorrows, even though it should not avail to 
the saving of his life. But it did avail ; for the hour 
of the murder having been ascertained, and being the 
same as that recorded upon the tract, it was evident 
the prisoner must have been in a different place at the 
time it was committed. He was accordingly dis- 
charged ; and in a moment was upon his knees, pour- 
ing forth the grateful feelings of his heart to his kind 
benefactress. 

And this, said the reverend gentleman, holding up 
a tract, is the very tract which saved that man's life. 



WHO KUNG THAT BELL? 

That there is a sleepless Providence watching over 
all the affairs of men, and often, by special agencies, 
bringing to light, as in the flash of a moment, the 
crimes which they commit, finds additional confirma- 
tion in an event which occurred in Entield, Conn., 
in 1866, and which merits a more permanent record 
than a mere passing thought. A young man, belong- 
ing to one of our most respectable families, but who, 
from his irregular habits, had been strongly suspected 
of being guilty of criminal offences, and had been 
once under arrest for passing counterfeit currency, 
and escaped by forfeiting his bonds, on Sunday night, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 97 

a few weeks since, broke into a store at Ilazardville, 
and loaded a wagon, which he had previously stolen 
and drawn to the door, with various kinds of mer- 
chandise. He then entered a stable, and attempted 
to lead out a valuable horse owned by the man from 
whom he had stolen the goods, intending to harness 
it to the wagon, and make off with his booty in the 
stillness of the night, when he thought no eve could 
see him and no ear hear him. Just at that moment, 
however, the bell from the village church tower 
sounded out an alarm loud and clear upon the night 
air, startling the inhabitants from their slumbers, 
who, supposing it to be a fire alarm, rushed into the 
street, and caught the thief with his plunder, before 
he had time to escape from the village. 

The ringing of that bell, however, was a mystery. 
But upon inquiry, it was ascertained that the sexton, 
in ringing the bell for the church service the day pre- 
vious had, by a seeming accident, so turned it up and 
set it, that he could not pull it down with the rope, 
and not having a key to the belfry door, he was 
obliged to let the bell remain in that position. Just 
in time to. detect that youthful criminal, it came down 
without human help, and sounded that midnight 
alarm. After his arrest, goods were found in his 
possession, which were taken from a store in Thomp- 
sonville a short time previously ; and he confessed 
that, with the aid of an accomplice, he had broken into 
it and stolen several hundred dollars' worth of mer- 
chandise. The owner of these goods had formerly 
employed him as a clerk in his store. Thus the 



98 THE GUIDING HAND. 

ringing of that bell without human hands, brought 
several criminal offences to light, and arrested the 
offender in his dishonest career. 

The writer has since conversed with the young man, 
and has reason to believe that the ringing of that bell 
was blessed to his temporal and eternal well-being. 



THE BULLET IN THE BIBLE. 

Old Dr. John Evans, the eminent Welsh preacher, 
in his " Sermons for Young Persons," published in 
1725, said : "Shall I be allowed to preface this dis- 
course with relating a passage concerning an acquaint- 
ance of mine, who has been many years dead, but 
which I remember to have received, when young 
from himself? 

When he was an apprentice, the civil war began : 
his inclination led him into the army, where he had a 
captain's commission. It was fashionable for all the 
men of the army to carry a Bible with them: this, 
therefore, he and many others did, who yet made 
little use of it, and -hardly had any sense of religion. 

At length he was commanded with his company to 
storm a fort, wherein they were for a short time ex- 
posed to the thickest of the enemy's fire. When 
over, he found that a musket-ball had lodged in his 
Bible, which was in his pocket upon such a part of 
his body that the shot must necessarily have proved 
mortal, had it not been for this seasonable and well- 
placed piece of armor. Upon a nearer observation, 
he found that the ball had made its way so far in his 



THE GUIDING HAND. 99 

Bible, as to rest directly upon that part of the first 
unbroken leaf, where the words of my text are found. 
It was Eccles. xi. 9 : — ' Rejoice , O young man, in 
thy youth ; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of 
thy youth, and walk in the icays of thine heart; and 
in the sight of thine eyes ; but know thou, that for all 
these things God icill bring thee into judgment.' 

As the surprising deliverance, you may apprehend, 
much affected him, so a passage, which his conscience 
told him was very apposite to his case, and which 
Providence in so remarkable a way pointed to his 
observation, made the deepest and best impression on 
his mind; and, by the grace of God, he from that 
time attended to religion in earnest, and continued in 
the practice of it to a good old age, frequently making 
the remark with pleasure, that the Bible had been the 
salvation of both his body and his soul." 



ELIZABETH WALKER AND THE JUDGE. 

The varied 'means by which God interposes to 
rescue his people from persecution and hinder their 
enemies from blood-guiltiness, have often been marked 
in the history of the world ; and the members of the 
Society of Friends, in their quiet trustfulness and 
passive endurance of affliction for the gospel's sake, 
have often proved the Lord to be a helper and a shield 
in times of trouble and distress. 

The following account of an experience of Eliza- 
beth A. Walker, was communicated by her to 
the aged Samuel Grummere , a minister among the 



100 THE GUIDING HAND. 

Friends, and his record of it was published in the 
"Friend's Review" for October 23d, 1869, as an 
instance of the over-ruling direction of the Most Hi^h, 
even when human reasoning had induced a child of 
God to shrink from duty and neglect the teachings 
of the Lord. 

Elizabeth was once iournevinsf with some Friends. 
"Coming to Lake Ontario to cross, in order to per- 
form a religious visit in Upper Canada, when about 
to go on board the sloop, the captain taking one of 
the carriage horses by the reins and leading him in, 
the other horse followed on board of his own accord, 
at which the captain seeming to marvel, was answered, 
the horse was used to crossing waters. 

After having performed the visit in prospect in that 
country, and being about to return, on approaching 
Kingston, Elizabeth felt an intimation of duty to have 
a meeting with the people there ; but it being the time 
of the Supreme Court, and the chief judge and a 
number of the great men of that country being in 
town, she gave way to reasoning, concluding that if 
once on board and set off, the concern might pass 
away from her mind. 

Accordingly in the morning, coming to the water- 
side to embark, the same captain with whom she and 
her companions had crossed before, being about to 
take them on board, found one of the horses refused 
to be led. After using considerable endeavors him- 
self and with the assistance of other men to force the 
horse on, and all without effect, he queried if it were 
not the same horse which had been so remarkably 



THE GUIDING HAND. 101 

tractable before. It proved to be the same, and in 
relating the circumstance, Elizabeth said she stood in 
amazement ; she saw the cause, and said, to use her 
own expression, 'I saw that I was Jonah.' 

However, they hoisted the horse on board by means 
of tackle, and proceeded with a fair prospect a little 
way, when a friend asking the captain how long he 
thought it might take to reach the other side, was 
answered, probably half an hour; when presently a 
tremendous storm arose, and they appeared every 
moment likely to be swallowed up in the waves. In 
this awful situation they remained from about eight to 
twelve o'clock. The captain said he had attended 
that ferry about thirty years, and had never seen the 
like ; and that there must be some cause for so great 
a tempest. 

Elizabeth's companion then coming to her where 
she sat overwhelmed with confusion, told her she 
must give up to return, their lives being every mo- 
ment in jeopardy. She could only answer that she 
was now willing' to do anything. He then went to 
the captain and proposed his returning, but was an- 
swered it was equally impossible to return to the place 
from whence they came as to go forward. On being 
queried with whether there was no other point he 
could reach, — they being still near the Canada shore, 
— he replied that he might possibly reach the King's 
Navy Yard, but that no American vessel was per- 
mitted to land there. 

The place being near, and the sentinel on guard in 
full view, Elizabeth says she recollected that she had 



102 THE GUIDING HAND. 

been a subject of the King of England, and did not 
know that she had done anything to forfeit her rights ; 
she therefore desired the captain to hail the sentinel 
with his trumpet and inform him that one of his Maj- 
esty's subjects was on board, and being in distress, 
desired permission to land ; but they received answer 
that lie durst not allow it, as it would be at the peril 
of his life. 

He was then queried of whether there was any su- 
perior officer at the place, and he answered that the 
admiral was there. It was desired that he might be 
informed that one of the King's subjects being in dis- 
tress and danger, did not ask it as a favor, but claimed 
as a right to receive protection. A sloop was then 
sent out to bring them ashore. 

Being landed with their baggage, etc., they had an 
interview with the admiral and some other great men, 
among whom was the judge before mentioned. She 
informed them of her desire to have a meeting, to 
which they readily assented, and concluded for it to 
be held at what they called the Church ; and a mes- 
senger was sent to obtain the privilege, who returned 
with the answer that the priest was gone from home, 
and the key was lost, so they could not get entrance 
to the edifice. 

The judge then said that should not disappoint their 
having a meeting. There being a large ball-room in 
the place, they set about preparing it for the purpose, 
and giving notice of the meeting. At three o'clock, 
about two hours from their landing, a large number 
being assembled, a satisfactory meeting was held; 



THE GUIDING HAND. 103 

after which, they being retired to quarters for the 
night, the judge sent his footman to inquire whether 
he might $e permitted to pay them a visit, and was 
answered that if he desired to do so there would be 
no objection. 

He came, and in conversation informed them that 
he being an Englishman, and brought up in what is 
termed high life, had also been in several considerable 
stations under government, and that with respect to 
religion, he had been an- Episcopalian, a Roman Cath- 
olic, and a Presbyterian, but now he believed that he 
had all yet to learn ; and herewith seemed inclined to 
drop the subject as respecting himself; but Elizabeth 
thought — though he endeavored to give the conver- 
sation a different turn — that there was still something 
throbbing in his heart that had not yet come out. 

At length he said he had been a great persecutor, 
and being a colonel in the military, as well as a civil 
judge, had been severe with Friends on account of 
their non-compliance with military requisitions. He 
said he had done it in the integrity of his heart, sup- 
posing their refusal to proceed from obstinacy ; but 
now was satisfied they acted from principle, and he 
was therefore determined to persecute them no more ; 
and as respected what was past, all the restitution he 
saw in his power to make, and which it was his deter- 
mination to fulfill, was, that when any Friend came 
that way with certificates, and desired to have meet- 
ings among them, it should be his part to make way 
for them. 

The next morning they came again to the water to 



104 THE GUIDING HAND. 

cross, and the men who had the preceding day assisted 
in getting the horse on board, again offered their as- 
sistance. 'No/ said the captain, 'the work is now 
done, I can take him myself;' and taking hold of the 
bridle, led him gently in. 

Some time after, the troubles between the two coun- 
tries taking place, Elizabeth was desirous to know 
whether this great man had kept the promise he had 
so solemnly made not to persecute the Friends for 
their religious testimony, and was informed that with- 
in his jurisdiction only one member had suffered on 
that account, and that he had not in time informed 
them that he was a member, neither did his conduct 
bespeak him to be one." 

The reader will observe how the Lord, by the "stormy 
wind fulfilling his word," brought Elizabeth Walker 
not only to bear her testimony to the people, but also 
to stand in the presence of the chief judge, who had 
been in his ignorance, a persecutor of her brethren, 
and thus made her an instrument of the deliverance of 
an innocent people from the afflictions and trials which 
they might otherwise have been called to endure 
through their steadfast aclherance to duty, and the 
ignorance and prejudice of their foes. 



THE LOCK OF HAIE. 

"Do you see this lock of hair ?"said an old man to me. 
"Yes ; but what is it? It is, I suppose, a curl from 
the head of a dear child long since dead." 

"It is not. It is a lock of my own hair ; and it is 



THE GUIDING HAND. 105 

now nearly seventy years since it was cut from this 
head.; 5 

<4 But why do you prize a lock of your own hair so 
much ?" 

"It has a story belonging to it, a strange one. I 
keep it thus with care because it speaks to me more of 
God, and of his special care, than anything else I 
possess. I was a little child of four years old, with 
long curl}' locks, which, in sun, or rain, or wind, 
hung down my cheeks uncovered. One day my 
father went into the woods to cut up a log, and I 
went with him. I was standing a little way behind 
him, or rather at his side, watching with interest the 
strokes of the heavy axe, as it went up, and came 
down upon the wood, sending off splinters with every 
stroke, in all directions. Some of the splinters fell 
at my feet, and I eagerly stooped to pick them up. 
In doing so I stumbled forward, and in a moment my 
curh' head la}' upon the log. I had fallen just at the 
moment when the axe was coming down with all its 
force. It was too late to stop the blow. Down came 
the axe. I screamed, and my father fell to the ground 
in terror. He could not stay the stroke, and in the 
blindness which the sudden horror caused, he thought 
he had killed his boy. We soon recovered — I from my 
fright, and he from his terror. He caught me in his 
arms, and looked at me from head to foot to find out 
the deadly wound which he was sure he had inflicted. 
Not a drop of blood nor a scar was to be seen. He 
knelt upon the grass and gave thanks to a gracious 
God. Having done so, he took up his axe, and found 



106 THE GUIDING HAND. 

a few hairs upon its edge. He turned to the log he 
had been splitting, and there was a single curl of his 
boy's hair, sharply cut through and laid upon the 
wood. How great the escape ! It was as if an angel 
had turned aside the edge at the moment it was 
descending upon my head. 

' 'That lock he kept all his days as a memorial of 
God's care and love. That lock he left me on his 
death-bed. I keep it with care. It tells me of my 
father's God and mine. It rebukes unbelief and alarm. 
It bids me trust him forever. I have had many tokens 
of fatherly love in my three-score 3 ears and ten, but 
somehow this speaks most to my heart. It is the 
oldest and perhaps the most striking. It used to 
speak to my father's heart ; it now speaks to mine." 



PEESEEYED BY A EAVEN. 

In the j^ear 1766, the especial interposition of 
Divine Providence was manifested in a most extra- 
ordinary manner to a poor laborer at Sunderland. 
This man being emplo3 r ed in hedging near to an old 
stone quarry, went to eat his dinner in a deep exca- 
vation in order to be sheltered from the weather, 
which was stormy ; as he went along, he pulled off his 
hedging gloves, and threw them down at some 
distance from each other. While at his repast, he 
observed a raven pick up one of them, with which he 
flew away, and very soon afterwards returned and 
carried off the other. The man being greatly sur- 
prised, rose to see if he could trace Avhere the bird 



THE GUIDING HAND. 101 



had gone with his gloves. He scarcely had cleared 
the quarry, before he saw large fragments foil down 
into the very place where he had been seated ; and 
where, if he had continued a minute longer, he must 
inevitably have been crushed to pieces. 



THE RESCUE. 

Several years ago a ship was burned near the 
mouth of the English channel. Among the passen- 
gers were a father, mother, and their little child, a 
daughter not many months old. When the discovery 
Was made that the ship was on tire, and the alarm was 
given, there was great confusion, and this family 
became separated. The father was rescued and taken 
to Liverpool, but the mother and her infant were 
crowded overboard and were not noticed by those 
who were doing all in their power to save the suffer- 
ers still on the ship. They consequently drifted out 
of the channel with the tide, the mother clinoino; to 
some floating portion of the wreck, with her little 
one clasped to her breast. 

Late in the afternoon of that day, a vessel, bound 
from Newport, Wales, to America, was moving 
slowly along in her course. There was only a light 
breeze, and the captain was impatiently walking the 
deck, when his attention was called to an object 
some distance off, which looked like a person in the 
water. 

The officers and crew watched it for a time, and, 
as no vessel w x as near from which any one could have 



108 THE GUIDING HAND. 

fallen overboard, they thought it impossible that this 
could be a human being. But as their vessel was 
scarcely moving, it was thought best to get out a 
boat and row to the object. The boat was accord- 
ingly lowered and manned. It was watched with 
considerable interest by those who remained on 
board, and they noticed that as it drew near to the 
drifting speck the rowers rested on their oars a 
moment or two, and then moving forward, took in 
the person or thing, they knew not which, and 
returned to the ship. 

TV 7 hen the boat's crew came on board they brought 
with them this mother and her child, alive, and well ; 
and the sailor's said that, as they drew near, they 
heard a female voice sweetly singing. As with a 
common impulse the men ceased rowing and listened, 
and the words of this beautiful hymn, sung by this 
trusting Christian, all unconscious that deliverance 
was so near, came over the waves to their ears : 

i ' Jesus, lover of my soul, 

Let me to thy bosom fly, 
While the waters near me roll, 

While the tempest still is high ; 
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, 

Till the storm of life is past; 
Safe into the haven guide, 

Oh ! receive my soul at last. 

1 ' Other refuge have I none, 

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee ; 
Leave, oh ! leave me not alone ; 

Still support and comfort me. 
All my trust on Thee is stayed, 

All my help from Thee I bring ; 
Cover my defenceless head 

With the shadow of thy wing." 



THE GUIDING HAND. 109 

In due time the vessel arrived in America. The 
mother wrote to her friends in England, and thus 
the father learned of the safety of his wife and child, 
and in about four months from the time of their 
separation they were happily reunited. 

AYho would not have such a trust as this, in time 
of trouble and distress ? Even if it were but a delu- 
sion and a snare, yet how much better a faith which 
can break forth at such a time in holv and confiding 
song, than the bitter blasphemies and despairing cries 
which mark the hopeless peril of those that know not 
God. 

But this abiding trust in God is no delusion. The 
Lord is nigh to them that call upon him. The eyes 
of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are 
open to their prayers ; and his Guiding Hand, which 
stilled the wind and waters on that memorable after- 
noon, which turned the glance of the men on board 
this ship to that solitary speck that floated on the 
waters, and which turned that captain's heart to stop 
and examine, rather than to pass carelessly on, — 
that same hand guides us in all life's devious way, 
and will bring us safely to the heavenly home at last. 



PKAYING AND DUELING. 

It is sad to hear of Christians becoming soldiers, 
but it is blessed to hear of soldiers becoming Chris- 
tians. And from the time of Cornelius the centurion, 
down to the present clay, God has magnified his 
grace in calling and in keeping those, who, even in 



110 THE GUIDING HAND. 

the most trying scenes, were enabled to hold fast 
their integrity and remain followers of the Prince of 
peace, though among the votaries of strife and blood. 

And the influence of such men has been great, and 
their testimonies and their prayers have often been 
used of the Lord to effect much good to those among 
whom their lot was cast, while compelled to endure 
the trials of their unwelcome calling and position. 

It is related that a pious young man in the army, 
not having a place in the barracks in which he was 
quartered, wherein he could pour out his soul unto 
God in secret, went for this purpose one dark night 
into a large field adjoining. Here he thought that 
no human being could see or hear him. But that 
God whose thoughts and ways are superior to ours, 
ordained otherwise. Two wicked men belonging to 
the same regiment, in whose hearts enmity had long 
existed against each other, were resolved, as they 
said, to end it that night in a battle. 

But God had his eye upon these sinful men, and 
his hand, unknown to them, directed all their steps. 
They chose the same field to fight in, where the other 
had gone to pray. The field, however, was large, 
and they might have taken different ways ; but they 
were led by Providence to the same spot where the 
young man was engaged in earnest supplication. 
They were surprised at hearing the sound of a human 
voice in the field at that time of night ; and much 
more so when they drew nearer, and heard a man at 
prayer. They halted, and gave attention ; and the 
effect of the prayer was to turn their mutual aversion 



THE GUIDING HAND. Ill 

into love. They took each other instantly by the 
hand, and cordially confessed that there remained no 
longer in either of their breasts hatred against each 
other. 

Of course this praying man had no thought of the 
way in which the Lord was using him to save life 
and prevent blood-guiltiness. Nor can we know 
what purposes of mercy God may serve by us. It is 
enough that we walk by faith and prayer, and leave 
the results to Him who doeth all things well ; who 
worketh all things according to the counsel of his 
own will ; whose wisdom is unsearchable, and his 
ways past finding out. 



THE GOLD-DIGGING EAT. 

' ' All things come to pass according to certain 
fixed and unalterable laws." 

So men of science assert, and from this reason, 
argue that no one can pray intelligently for the 
occurrence of any event, or other than those which 
are already certain according to the course of nature, 
unless he believes that God will work a miracle in 
order to give him an answer. To this the Christian's 
faith replies: "Yes, God does bring all things to 
pass according to his own fixed laws ; according to 
the counsel of his own will. Yet his infinite wisdom 
finds room, without over-riding these laws, so to 
order particular events, as that their occurrence at 
particular times is in gracious answer to those prayers 
which he has bidden and invited his people to offer 



112 THE GUIDING HAND. 

up to him, in the name of Jesus Christ, for things 
agreeable to his holy will." 

Among the thousands of incidents which daily 
confirm the faith of those. who take God at his word, 
the following is a striking one : During the war, a 

o o o 

gentleman in West Tennessee removed the steps 
from his back porch, buried some gold, and replaced 
the steps. It escaped the hands of the invaders. The 
war closed in 1865. The gentleman removed the 
steps, dug up his gold, and believing he had secured 
it all, replaced the steps again. 

Nearly seven years rolled away, and in 1872, an 
excellent and worthy Presbyterian minister of Tus- 
cumbia, Alabama, died in the midst of his years and 
usefulness, leaving a widow and six little penniless 
children. The synod of Memphis resolved to ask 
her churches to make a contribution for the benefit of 
this family. On a certain Sabbath, one of her pastors 
stated the facts, and announced that his church would 
make their contribution on the next Lord's day. 
Before him sat one of his members, the wife of the 
man who had concealed the gold. She felt, "Ob, I 
do wish I could make or procure some money that I 
might help that dear lady and her fatherless ones ! " 
Then she resolved before the Lord that she would 
give all the money which he would enable her to 
make or control during the next Aveek, to that cause. 
That night a rat — ' ' according to the laws of his 
nature " — determined to dig a hole under those back 
steps, and did so. Next morning, as the lady, 
according to her custom, swept the back porch and 



THE GUIDING HAND. 113 

steps, she saw a five-dollar gold piece lying in the 
earth, scratched up by the rat. She then removed 
the steps, and digging, found other pieces, until she 
had procured twenty dollars in gold ; and this went 
the next Sabbath to the widow and orphans. 

She and many others have no doubt that this was 
an answer to the prayer and resolve made in her pew 
on the previous day, and yet no law of the nature of 
any person concerned, not even of the rat, was set 
aside or over-ridden. 



GOBAT AND THE HYENAS. 

"Mr. Gobat, afterward Bishop of Jerusalem, 
when engaged as a missionary to Abyssinia, retired 
on one occasion, in a season of deep spiritual depres- 
sion and gloom, into a cavern, and there poured out 
his heart in earnest supplication, beseeching that God 
would not desert him, but encourage him in his trials. 
lie remained in the cavern some time. When he rose 
from his knees, his eyes had become accustomed to 
the darkness, and he saw that he had been there with 
a hyena and her cubs, which yet had not been suf- 
fered to attack him. At the very time when he 
deemed, himself forgotten, he received this striking 
manifestation that the God of providence was nigh to 
shield and protect him. 

" On one occasion this animal was made the instru- 
ment of his deliverance from a violent death. AVhile 
laboring among the wild tribes of the Druses, a 
messenger was sent from one of their chiefs, whose 



114 THE GUIDING HAND. 

influence it was important to secure, with a message 
entreating Mr. Gobat to visit him. The latter, 

O 7 

however, was unable to do so in consequence of 
indisposition. A second messenger repeated the 
invitation, but still, contrary to Mr. Gobat's expec- 
tation, he was prevented from complying with the 
chiefs wishes. A third messenger prevailed on him 
to set out, by the assurance that if he went at once 
he might spend the night with the chief, and be 
ready to return in the morning, so as to join a ship 
about to sail for Malta, in which Mr. Gobat was 
anxious to embark. On their journey the guides 
lost themselves in the mountain paths. Having at 
last, with some difficulty, regained their route, they 
suddenly saw by the light of the moon that a hyena 
had laid itself down across the path exactly in their 
way. They threw stones to frighten it, when the 
animal sprang up and ran along the path which the 
party w r ere to travel. A superstition is prevalent 
among the Druses, that 'the way a hyena goes is an 
unlucky one.' Accordingly the natives refused to 
go further, and Mr. Gobat had to retrace his steps, 
greatly perplexed at the obstacles which had hin- 
dered a journey apparently of so much consequence 
to his mission. When in Malta he received a letter 
from a friend in Lebanon, stating that he had been 
visited by the chief, who, with much agitation, had 
spoken to him as follows : 'Your friend is truly a 
servant of God, and God has preserved him; for I 
wished to draw him to my village in order to murder 
him. Therefore I sent message after message to 



THE GUIDING HAND. 115 

him ; but God has delivered him from the hand of his 
enemies.' " 

"Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither 
slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper, the 
Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand." "The 
angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that 
fear him and delivereth them.*' 



A TIMELY ALAEM. 

A lady in S , New Hampshire, relates the 

following incident, illustrating the watchfulness of 

divine providence over the people of God : 

fct Sometime about the year 1868, my husband was 
absent from home, and I was alone in the house 
with an old lady, more than eighty years of age, and 
quite lame and feeble. The evening was well ad- 
vanced, the old lady had retired for the night, and I 
was preparing to go to my bed, when I heard a 
remarkable noise caused by the rats running up and 
down the ceiling as I never heard them before or 
since. I spoke to the old lady, and said, 'I have a 
good mind to carry the cat up stairs.' She replied, 
' I would ; for I never heard the rats make such a 
noise.' I took the cat, and when I opened the door 
into the front entry, I perceived the smell of smoke. 
I ran up stairs, and opened the door into one of the 
back chambers directly over our bed, and there a 
large wooden spit-box standing before a stove, was 
on fire; I caught it up to put it in the stove, and 



116 THE GUIDING HAND. 

the bottom of it dropped out, and the floor where it 
stood Was also on fire. I got some water, and soon 
put out the fire, and went down and said to the old 
lady, 'Truly God sent the rats there, to preserve us 
from certain death ; for if I had gone to bed, we 
should not have known anything about the fire, until 
the burning floor fell on us.' 

"We both felt to thank God for his protecting 
care. But it was a great mystery to us to know 
how the fire came up there; for no one had been 
there, to my knowledge, during the day. I remem- 
bered, however, that a woman had been washing for 
me that day Avho smoked ; and as she knew tobacco 
was very offensive to me, I thought she must have 
gone up into the chamber to smoke. She wa& in 
the house the next day, and owned that she did so, 
but was not aware that she had dropped any fire. 
As it was, her indulgence in the vile habit might 
have occasioned the loss, not only of our property 
but of our lives, had it not been for this unusual 
noise which attracted my attention, and led me to 
discover the danger. The evil habit was the cause 
of our peril, but the providence of God provided a 
way for our escape. 

In this way trifles light as air are made subserv- 
ient to the safety and prosperity of the children of 
the Most High. Blessed arc they who observe his 
loving-kindness and oave thanks for all his love,' 
rejoicing that the eyes of the Lord are over the 
righteous, and that Israel's Keeper neither slumbers 
nor sleeps. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 117 

THE TIMELY EBB-TIDE. 

The following remarkable account of the deliver- 
ance of the inhabitants of Holland from the terrors 
of an invading force, is recorded in the second book 
of Bishop Burnet's "History of His Own Time:" 

In 1672, the Dutch were saved by an extraordinary 
event, at a time when nothing but the interposition 
of Providence could have preserved them. In that 
memorable year, when Louis XIV. came down upon 
that country like a flood, he proposed that at the 
same time he should enter the province of Holland 
by land, his fleet, in conjunction with that of Great 
Britain, should make a descent on the side of the 
Hague, by sea. When the united fleets came up 
within sight of Scheveling, the tide, though very 
regular at other times, just when they were prepar- 
ing to land, changed its usual course, and stopped 
for several hours. The next morning the French 
and English fleets were dispersed by a violent storm. 

Those who hate the very name of a miracle 
(although in reality they suppose the greatest of all 
miracles, that is, the tying up of the hands of the 
Almighty from disposing events according to his 
will) pretend, "This was only an extraordinary 
ebb." But this very ebb was an extraordinary 
providence, as the descent, which must have termi- 
nated in the destruction of the republic, was to be 
punctually at that and no other time. But that 
this retrogradation of the sea~was no natural event, 
is as certain as anything in nature. 



118 THE GUIDING HAND. 

Many writers of unquestionable veracity might be 
produced to confirm the truth of the fact. I shall 
only cite one, who was at the Hague but three years 
after it happened: " An extraordinary thing lately 
happened at the Hague. I had it from many eye- 
witnesses. The English fleet appeared in sight of 
Scheveling, making up to the shore. The tide 
turned ; but they made no doubt of landing the 
forces the next flood, where they werejike to meet 
no resistance. The states sent to the prince for men 
to hinder the descent, but he could spare few, 
having the French near him. So the country was 
given up for lost ; their admiral, Dc Ruyter, with 
their fleet, being absent. The flood returned, which 
the people expected would end in their ruin ; but, to 
the amazement of them all, after the sea had flowed 
two or three hours, an ebb of many hours succeeded, 
which carried the fleet again to sea. And before the 
flood returned, De Ruyter came in view. This they 
esteemed no less than a miracle wrought for their 
preservation. 



PROVIDENCES IN BIBLE TRANSLATION. 

God's wonderful care for those who labor to 
disseminate his Word, has often been remarked. 
The following are a few of many instances : 

Long before the establishment of Bible societies, 
the Rev. Peter Williams, a pious, distinguished 
preacher of Wales, seeing that his countrymen were 
almost entirely destitute of the Bible, and knowing 



THE GUIDING HANI). 119 

that the work of the Lord could not prosper without 
it ; undertook, though destitute of the means, to 
translate and publish a Welsh Bible for their use. 
Having expended all his living, and being deeply 
involved in debt, with the work yet unfinished, he 
expected every hour to be arrested and imprisoned, 
without the means or hope of release. 

One morning he had taken an affectionate leave of 
his family for the purpose of pursuing his pious 
Labors, with an expectation that he should not be 
permitted to return, when, just as he was mounting 
his horse, a stranger rode up and presented him a 
letter. He stopped and opened it, and found to his 
astonishment, that it contained information that a 
lady had bequeathed him a legacy of £300 sterling. 
"Now," said he, "my dear wife, I can finish my 
Bible, pay my debts, and live in peace at home." 

Williams escaped imprisonment that he might 
translate the word of God ; — others have been kept 
in prison to accomplish the same design. 

Luther's translation of the Bible was made while , 
shut in by the gloomy walls of Wartburg castle. 
From that lonely hiding-place in the Black Forest 
went forth rays of light to illuminate the world 
through all succeeding o-enerations. 

De Sacy, a French Christian, was thrown into the 
Bastile, in 1666, by the Jesuits, and lay there two 
years and a half. There he translated the Bible 
into French. One night he finished the book, and 
the very next day his prison doors were flung open, 
and he went forth free, bearing the word of God in 



120 THE GUIDING HAND. 

the language of the common people. Thus has God 
guarded his living Word, notwithstanding the fury 
of his foes, and made the wrath and spite of men to 
praise his name. 



THE SUICIDE SAVED. 

A writer in the Sunday- School Workman, relates 
an incident occurring in her immediate neighborhood 
which illustrates the wonderful providence of God in 
the preservation of human life. 

" Our maid," she says, "was busy hanging clothes 
on the line, when, chancing to raise her eyes, she 
saw a female form suspended from one of the windows 
of a house, so situated that it could not easily be 
seen from any of the adjoining houses. 

In an instant the alarm was given, and the poor 
woman, who, in a moment of delirium, sought to 
destroy her life, was released from her perilous 
position. Only a little hook had held her clothes, 
and prevented her death." 

The man who forged that hook, and he who set it 
in its place, little thought of the importance of their 
work; but God saw it all the time. Had the hook 
been slighted in the making, or had it been fastened 
carelessly, and insecurely, it might have cost a life. 
But the hook was strong and firm, and right side up, 
and it saved a soul from death. 

God uses many hooks, not only putting them in 
the jaws of the ungodly to turn them back, but also 
to pluck his tempted saints out of many dangerous 



THE GUIDING HAND. 121 

nets. A word, a deed, a smile, a prayer, a tear, 
may prove the salvation of some bewildered soul. 
Be faithful then. Learn that all your work is done 
for God. Slight nothing. Have the same evidence 
of your salvation that the little servant girl had, who, 
when asked how she knew she was converted, said, 
"Because I sweep under the mats'" 

Life and health may depend upon your present 
acts, and untold results may follow some unconsid- 
ered effort. Live faithful then, and walk as before 
the Lord, remembering that nothing; can be triflino; 

O o o 

which attracts the notice of his eye. 



ACCOUNT OF ME, STUDLY. 

" No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." 

Mr. Studly was the son of an attorney in Kent, 
who was worth about four hundred pounds a year ; a 
man remarkable for his enmity against the power of 
religion, and the people called Puritans. His son 
seemed for some years to tread in his father's steps, 
till the Lord, who had separated him from his mother's 
womb, was pleased to call him by his grace in the fol- 
lowing remarkable manner : 

Young Mr. Studly, being in London, and having 
spent an evening in gay company, was intoxicated 
with liquor. Returning in the night to his lodging, 
he fell down into a cellar, and in the fall was seized 
with such horror of mind, that he absolutely thought 
he had fallen into hell. He lay there some hours, 
though he received little harm from the fall. Stupid, 



122 THE GUIDING HAND. 

affrighted, and heated with liquor, he imagined that he 
was actually in the pit of misery. When he recov- 
ered himself, and had got home into Kent, he became 
very thoughtful and serious, applying himself dili- 
gently to reading the Scriptures and to prayer. His 
father soon perceived the change in his disposition 
and conduct, and greatly dreading that his son would 
turn Puritan, behaved in a very harsh and severe 
manner to him, and even obliged him to dress 
the horses; to all which he readily and humbly sub- 
mitted. And when at any time his father perceived 
that he sat up late at night to read his Bible, he 
denied him candle-light; but being allowed to have 
a fire in his chamber, he used to lie all along on the 
floor, and read by the light of the fire. He has told 
his friends that while employed in dressing his father's 
horses in his frock, and lying on the floor to read, he 
received such comforts and joys from the Lord, as 
were scarcely ever equalled afterwards. 

The old gentleman, finding his endeavors to dis- 
courage him from religion ineffectual, resolved to 
send him to France, hoping that change of air and 
levity of manners might cure him of his melancholy. 
Accordingly he went ; but being left to his own dis- 
posal, he was providentially directed to a godly 
Protestant minister, with whom he fixed himself, and 
with whom he soon contracted a most pleasing and 
profitable friendship. Here he made a rapid progress 
in learning and speaking French, an account of which 
was communicated to his father. Soon after this he 
was ordered to return to England, and by the father's 



THE GUIDING HAND. 123 

invitation, or the son's persuasion, the tutor accom- 
panied him ; and was affectionately received by old 
Mr. Studly, who as yet knew nothing of his being a 
minister. At length the father surprised the French 
gentleman and his son at prayer together, which so 
enraged him, that he immediately paid him what was 
owing, and dismissed him. 

Another expedient was now adopted. Old Mr. 
Studly having some interest with a person of honor, 
a lady of quality at Whitehall, prevailed with her to 
take his son into her family, who was by his educa- 
tion qualified for such a station. He hoped by 
the gaiety of court life to drive away his melancholy, 
as he called his son's seriousness in religion. 

When fixed in this new station, having consider- 
able authority over the numerous servants of the 
house, he took the liberty to reprove them for swear- 
ing and other vices, with such prudence and gravity 
that sin fell down before him; so that when any of 
them were improperly employed, it was enough to 
deter them if they heard Mr. Studly coming. When 
a year was elapsed, the father waited upon the lady, 
to enquire how the young man had approved himself 
in his place. She replied, she was heartily glad that 
Mr. Studly had come into her house, for he had 
effected a wonderful reformation in the family. She 
had, she said, been formerly troubled with the unruly 
conduct of her servants ; but, by his prudent man- 
agement, all was now as quiet as in a private family 
in the country. At this the old man perfectly stormed, 
and exclaimed, "What! will he make Puritans in 



124 THE GUIDING HAND. 

Whitehall?" He told the lady, that was no place for 
his son, he would take him home ; which to her great 
dissatisfaction he did. 

The only method he could now devise to stifle the 
work of religion, was to get his son married to some 
gay young lady in an irreligious family. Having 
such a one in his eye, he ordered his son one evening 
to be ready to accompany him on horseback on the 
morning following ; and when on the road, ordered 
the servant, who was behind them, to ride on before, 
and then addressed himself to the young man to the 
following purpose : "Son, you have been the occasion 
of great grief to my mind. I have used a variety of 
methods to reclaim you from the strange way you are 
in, and as yet to no purpose. I have one more remedy 
to apply, and if you comply with my wishes in it, I 
will settle my whole estate on you ; but if you refuse, 
you shall never enjoy a groat of it. We are now 
going to such a gentleman's house, and to his daughter 
I intend to marry you." The young man said little 
in reply, knowing that family to be profane ; however, 
they went on to the house, where they were kindly 
received and nobly entertained, the father having 
before prepared the way. 

On their return homeward the old gentleman asked 
his son how he liked the lady? The young man, who 
was really captivated with her beauty (for she was 
remarkably handsome) replied, No man living could 
help liking such a woman ; he was only afraid she 
would not like him. The father, heartily glad that the 
bait was taken, bid him take no care for that. The 



THE GUIDING HAND. 125 

courtship that ensued was not long, for in three weeks 
they both came to London to buy wedding clothes. 

The father had been particularly careful to desire 
that while his son paid his addresses, there might be 
no swearing or debauchery, lest he should be dis- 
couraged. But when the wedding day came, the mask 
was thrown off; they indulged themselves at the din- 
ner with drinking healths, and profane swearing ; and, 
amongst the rest, the bride herself swore an oath. 

At this the bridegroom, as a man amazed, took 
occasion to leave the table, went to the stable, saddled 
his horse, and rode away unobserved, all being busy 
in the house. As he rode along he bewailed his con- 
dition, having, he judged, ruined his peace for ever. 
He recollected that during the affair he had restrained 
prayer, and of course lost his communion with God, 
when he should have been doubly and trebly diligent, 
that he had inconsiderately fallen in love, and improp- 
erly hurried on the match, so that he was now utterly 
and deservedly undone. With such painful thoughts 
as these he rode on, not knowing what to do, or 
whither to go. Sometimes he thought of riding quite 
away. At length, being among the woods, he led 
his horse to a solitary place, tied him to a tree, and 
betook himself to earnest prayer, in which he spent 
the whole afternoon. He was led to pray chiefly for 
the conversion of his wife, which he sought with 
earnest cries and tears, looking on himself as a ruined 
man if this were not granted; nor did he rise from 
his knees without some good hope of being heard. 

In the mean time all was hurry and confusion at 



126 THE GUIDING HAND. 

the house he had left. When the bridegroom was 
missed, messengers were sent out in every direction 
to seek him. But no news of him could he ^ot. He 
was crying to God, as Jacob did at Peniel. 

When the evening came he returned, and, enquir- 
ing where his bride was, found her sitting in her 
chamber, pensive enough. She asked him if he had 
done well to expose her to scorn and derision all the 
daj r . He entreated her to sit down on a couch there, 
by him, and he would give her an account of what he 
had been doing, and the reason of it. He then told her 
the story of his whole life, and what the Lord, by his 
grace, had clone for him : and this he did with much 
affection and many tears, the flood gates of which had 
been opened in the wood ; and frequently in the course 
of his story, he would say, Through grace, God did 
so and so for me. When he had related the whole — 
and by the way, this was St Paul's method, by which 
many were converted, to tell over the story of his 
conversion — she asked him what he meant by that ex- 
pression, which he so often used, "through grace!" 
so ignorantly had she been educated ; and also asked 
him if he thought there was no grace in God for her, 
who was so wretched a stranger to him. "Yes, my 
dear," said he, "there is grace for you, and it is that 
I have been praying for in the wood. God hath heard 
my prayer, and seen my tears ; and let us now go 
together to him about it." Then they kneeled down 
by the couch, and he prayed ; and they both were so 
engaged in weeping and supplication, that their eyes 
were m uch s woll en . 



THE GUIDING HAND. 127 

When they came down to supper, and were at the 
table, the bride's father, according to custom, swore. 
The bride immediately said, "Father, pray don't 
swear." At which Mr. Studly rose from his seat in 
prodigious anger, and cried, "What! is the devil in 
him ? has he made his wife a Puritan already ? " and 
swore bitterly that he would rather set fire to the 
four corners of his fair-built house, with his own 
hands, than his son should ever enjoy it. When he 
returned home, he immediately made his will, leaving 
his son only ten pounds, to cut off his claim; and 
bequeathed his estate to several others, of whom a 
Dr. Eeeves was one. Not long after this he died; 
and Dr. Eeeves sent for young Mr. Studly, paid him 
his ten pounds, told him he had been a rebellious son, 
had disobliged his father, and mi^ht thank himself. 
He received the ten pounds, and meekly departed. 

The match had been so hurried, that Mrs. Studly 
had no portion settled on her, at least to his knowl- 
edge, for he left the whole affair to his father's man- 
agement ; so that she was also deserted by her friends. 
But having two hundred pounds in her own hands, 
which had been left by a grandmother, they took, and 
stocked a farm in Sussex, where she, who had been 
very genteelly educated, has been often seen in her 
red waistcoat milking: her cows. She was enabled to 
do all this with such cheerfulness, that she greatly 
comforted and encouraged her husband. "God," said 
she "has had mercy on me, and any pains-taking is 
pleasant to me." Thus the}' lived with mu< h comfort, 
and an increasing family, for a considerable time. 



128 THE GUIDING HAND. 

However, about three or four years after their mar- 
riage, as he was on the road, in Kent, he was met by 
one of the tenants of his late father's estate, and 
saluted by the name of landlord. "Alas ! " said he, "I 
am none of your landlord." "Yes, you are," replied 
the farmer, "I know more than you do of the settle- 
ment. Your father, though a cunning lawyer, with all 
his wit, could not alienate the estate from you, whom 
he made joint purchaser. Myself and some other 
tenants know it, and have refused to pay any money 
to Dr. Reeves. I have sixteen pounds ready for 
you in my hands, which I will pay to your acquit- 
tance, and that will serve you to wage law with them." 
Mr. Studly was amazed at this wonderful providence ; 
received the money, sued for his estate, and in a term 
or two recovered it. 

Mrs. Studly, enjoying the blessings of an affection- 
ate, pious husband, several tine children, and a plenti- 
ful fortune, began to question the truth of her grace, 
because of her great prosperity. But it was a severe 
rebuke that the Lord gave her for her sin ; for a fine 
boy about three years old fell into a kettle of scald- 
ing wort, and was taken out by his mother, and died. 
This she looked upon as the Lord's discipline for her 
unthankfulness, and was thus instructed to know how 
to abound as well as how to suffer want, and to accept 
without distrust or murmuring the things which are 
given us richly to enjoy. 

" Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the 
Lord delivereth him out of them all." Psa. xxxix. 19. 



THE GUIDING HAM). 129 



A STARTING WIDOW FED. 

A lady was travelling with her young family and 
their governess to the sea. They used post horses 
with their own carriage. They had not gone many 
miles before she discovered that the cook, contrary to 
her orders, had filled all the pockets and every spare 
nook of the coach with provisions. She was dis- 
pleased, and the first time they stopped to change 
horses, had everything turned into a basket, and told 
the servant to give it away. The governess asked 
permission to go with the servant while the carriage 
was detained, to see it properly given. A reluctant 
consent was obtained, and she hastened into the poor- 
est part of the town that lay near the inn. She had 
little time for any choice, so turning down a street 
she resolved to leave the basket at the first clean 
looking house she came to. 

Passing several, she stopped at one with a snow- 
white curtain in a bright window. She knocked at 
the door, but received no answer; she raised the 
latch and went in. A woman, reduced by starvation 
or sickness to a mere skeleton, was at a bedstead, 
which was the only article of furniture in the room. 
She looked languidly at the lady, who, without delay 
emptied the basket on the floor — meat, tongue, etc. 

66 1 was told to give this away," said she, "and 
as I knew no one here, I determined to leave it at 
the first clean house I came to." 

Instead of thanking" or even answering her, the 





130 THE GUIDING HAND. 

woman, still on her knees, raised her hands and said : 
' ' I thank thee , O my Father ; thou knowest my need. " 
A few minutes told her story. She had lost her 
husband after twenty weeks of fever. Nursing him 
reduced her strength and devoured her substance. 
She was too weak to work, and had been compelled 
to part with all her goods, piece by piece, to pay her 
rent and obtain bread. " I knew I could work if I 
had meat to nourish me, " she said; " but where 
could I get it? Where?" she continued, " why, from 
Him who sent it by you just as I was asking him to 
let me have some, unless it was his blessed will that 
I should go to the work-house." 



THE CAPTIVE'S KELEASE. 

During the war called Braddock's War, says a writer 
in the Christian Advocate, my father was an officer in 
the British army. One night, as they were running 
close to the coast of Barbary, the officers on deck 
heard some person singing. A moment convinced 
them that he was singing the . Old Hundredth psalm 
tune. They immediately conjectured that the singer 
was a Christian captive, and determined to attempt 
his rescue. Twenty stout sailors, armed with pistols 
and cutlasses, manned the ship's boats, and approached 
the shore. Directed by the voice of singing and 
prayer, they soon reached the abode of the Christian 
captive. It was a little hut at the bottom of his 
master's garden, on a small river. They burst open 



THE GUIDIXG HAND. 131 

llie door, and took him from his knees, and, in a few 
moments, he was on the ship's deck, frantic with joy. 

The account he gave of himself was, that his name 
was McDonald ; that he was a native of Scotland, 
and had been a captive eighteen years ; had obtained 
the confidence of his master, and had the privilege of 
living by himself. He said he was not at all surprised 
when they broke open his door ; for the Turks 
had often done so, and whipped him when on his 
knees. Throughout his captivity, he had held fast 
his faith — though apostasy would have secured his 
freedom — and had waited and hoped until the hour of 
his release. 

And while all seemed dark and unpromising, the 
Lord, who looks clown from the height of his sanc- 
tuary to behold the earth and " hear the groaning of 
the prisoner," had planned and provided a way for 
his rescue from his long and dark captivity. 

And Iioav visible was God's guidance in his deliv- 
erance. A song of Zion, sung "by the rivers of 
Babylon," brought him help. Had he feared the 
wrath of his foes ; had he hushed his song and 
whispered out his praises to escape their persecutions ; 
or had he sung sooner or later than he did ; or had 
the vessel passed by day, when others would have 
observed their movements, he might have still re- 
mained in bondage, and died a captive in a hostile land. 

But God never makes mistakes, and his providential 
arrangements are never too early, never too late, 
always in time, always in place, and always true and 
righteous altogether. 



132 THE GUIDING HAND. 

THE HEAYEN-BUILT WALL. 

In the campaign of Napoleon in Russia, while the 
French army was retreating from Moscow, there lay 
in a poor, low cottage, in a little village, an invalid 
hoy. This village was exactly in the course of the 
retreating army, and already the reports of its ap- 
proach had reached and excited the terrified inhabit- 
ants. In their turn, they began to make prepara- 
tions for retreat ; for they knew there was no hope for 
them from the hands of soldiers, all seeking their own 
preservation, and giving no quarter to others. Every 
one who had the strength to fly, fled ; some trying to 
take with them their worldly goods, some to conceal 
them. The little village was fast growing deserted. 
Some burnt their houses or dismantled them. The 
old were placed in wagons, and the young hurried 
their families away with them. 

But in the little cottage there was none of this 
bustle. The poor crippled boy could not move from 
his bed. The widowed mother had no friends inti- 
mate enough to spare a thought for her in this time 
of trouble, when every one thought only of those 
nearest to him and of himself. What chance in flight 
was there for her and her young children, among 
whom one was the poor crippled boy ? 

It was evening, and the sound of distant voices and 
of preparation had died away. The poor boy was 
wakeful with terror, now urging his mother to leave 
him to his fate, now dreading lest she should take 
him at his word, and leave him behind. 



THE GUTDTXG HAND. 133 

"The neighbors are just going away; I hear them 
no longer," he said. "I am so selfish I have kept 
you here. Take the little girls with you ; it is not 
too late. And I am safe; who will hurt a poor 
helpless boy ?" 

' 4 We are all safe," answered the mother; "God 
will not leave us, though all else forsake us." 

"But what can help us ?" persisted the boy. ' ' Who 
can defend us from their cruelty? Such stories as I 
have heard of the ravages of these men ! They are 
not men ; they are wild beasts. Oh, why was I made 
so weak — so weak as to be utterly useless? ±so 
strength to defend, no strength even to fly." 

"There is a sure wall for the defenseless," answered 
his mother ; "God will build us up a sure wall." 

"You are my strength now," said the boy; "I 
thank God that you did not desert me. I am so 
weak, I cling to you. Do not leave me, indeed ! I 
fancy I can see the cruel soldiers hurrying in. We 
are too poor to satisfy them, and they would pour 
their vengeance upon us ! And yet you ought to 
leave me ! What right have I to keep you here ? 
And I shall suffer more if I see you suffer." 

"God will be our refuge and defense," still said 
the mother ; and at length, with low, quieting words, 
she stilled the anxious boy, till he, too, slept like his 
sisters. The morning came of the day that was to 
bring the dreaded enemy. The mother and children 
opened their eyes to find that a "sure wall" had in- 
deed been built for their defense. The snow had 
beo*un to fall the evening; before. Through the ni^ht 



134 THE GUIDING HAND. 

it had collected rapidly. A "stormy wind, fulfilling 
His word," had blown the snow into drifts against 
the low house, so that it had entirely covered it — a 
protecting wall, built by Him who holds the very 
winds in his fists, and who ever pities those who 
trust in him. A low shed behind protected the way 
to the outhouse, where the animals were, and for 
a few days the mother and her children kept them- 
selves alive within their cottage, shut in and con- 
cealed by the heavy barricade of snow. 

It was during that time that the dreaded scourge 
passed over the village. Every house was ransacked ; 
all the wealthier ones deprived of their luxuries, 
and the poorer ones robbed of their necessaries. But 
the low-roofed cottage lay sheltered beneath its wall 
of snow, which, In the silent night, had gathered 
about it. God had protected the defenseless with 
a "sure wall." 



PROVIDENCE AND LAW. 

It is said that John Fletcher, when a young man, 
was very anxious to join the army to go to South 
America. The vessel was ready to start, friends 
secured him an appointment, but the morning he was 
to have sailed, the servant, in coming into his room 
at breakfast, stumbled and spilled over him the boil- 
inor coffee, and so scalded him that he was unable to 
o-o on his journey. He lamented the accident — was 
disappointed in all his plans ; but the vessel was never 
heard from. Fletcher was spared to become a preacher 



THE GUIDING HAND. 135 

of the gospel, a man who wielded by his pen, as well 
as by his voice, an overwhelming influence upon the 
minds of men, and being dead yet speaketh. No 
miracle was wrought. Wesley, the little boy, is 
sleeping in the upper story of Epworth Rectory. It 
is on lire ; he is forgotten ; but suddenly a woman 
remembers there is a child asleep, and she calls, and 
the child shows his head at the window ; and a brave 
man at the risk of himself being burned, mounts a 
ladder, and the little fellow throws himself into his 
arms and is saved, and Wesley is spared to enlighten 
the world. 

No law of nature is violated ; but oh ! these sug- 
gestions, these thoughts that drop from heaven, that 
change and mould the whole sphere of our lives ! 
This breathing! God breathed into man, and he 
became a living soul. Jesus, when he rose from the 
dead, breathed and said: "Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost." That spirit of breathing, that spiritual 
influence, it comes down on the hearts of men, and 
may change and fashion and mould and save, and yet 
all these laws of nature remain uniform and immu- 
table. God is all around us. God's laws stand all 
the time. We lean on them like pillars of the universe. 
We place our feet on them like the rock of ages. 
We hold fast to them, knowing that the foundations 
shall give way sooner than they. And yet, in the 
midst of all these, there is a sphere under which we 
can work in harmony with these laws and have their 
protecting power, and still God can care for the men 
who care for Him. Here is the whole realm in which 



136 THE GUIDING HAND. 

we may find safety. I will not say positively that 
God never interfered with nature's laws, that there 
is never any response in this direction in answer to 
prayer. I will not make the affirmation that God 
never suspends a natural law ; but I will say, I see 
no necessity for it. Christ never showed any 
example of it in his own life ; and save when there 
was a necessity for declaring God was there, that he 
might give a revelation, and men might know it was 
from God, we find no such case of miraculous inter- 
vention. And now, then, if God can so work, what 
is to prevent us feeling we are encircled within his 
arms and his power attends us ? Bp Simpson. 



THE LOST DEEDS. 

Dr. Bedell relates that, while Bishop Chase, of 
Ohio, was at the house of a Mr. Beck, in Philadelphia, 
he received a package from Dr. Ward, the Bishop of 
Sodor and Man, making inquiries relating to certain 
property in America, of which some old person in his 
diocese was the heir. The letter had gone to Ohio, 
followed him to Washington, then to Philadelphia, 
and found him at Mr. Beck's. When he read it to 
Mr. B., the latter was in amazement, and said, — 

"Bishop Chase, I am the only man in the world 
who can give you this information. I have the deeds 
in my possession, and have had them forty-three 
years, not knowing what to do with them, or where 
any heirs were to be found." 

How wonderful that the application should have 



THE GUIDIKG ITAXD. 137 

been made to Bishop Chase, and he not in Ohio, but 
a guest in the house of the only man who possessed 
any information on the subject ! 



ARE TRACTS WASTED? 

Some people think that the day of the usefulness 
of tracts has gone by, and that the tract distributor's 
task is as idle as the throwing, of sand to the four 
winds of heaven. But though a printed word may 
be wasted, just as a spoken word may be addressed to 
careless ears, no one knows upon what ground the 
seed will fall. Recently it was reported in the news 
columns of a New York daily paper, a man stepped 
into a horse-car in New York, and, before taking his 
seat, gave to each passenger a little card bearing the 
inscription, " Look to Jesus when tempted, when 
troubled, when dying." One of the passengers care- 
fully read the card and put it into his pocket. As 
he left the car he said to the giver : "Sir, when you 
gave me this card, I was on my way to the ferry, 
intending to jump from the boat and drown myself. 
The death of my wife and son had robbed me of all 
desire to live. But this ticket has persuaded me to 
begin life anew. Good-day, and God bless you ! " 
All this is no imaginary story, taken from a religious 
novel. It happened to be on a Fulton Ferry car, on 
a day in March, 1878, and the man who distributed 
the cards was Mr. James Huggins, the proprietor 
of the Pearl Street printing establishment. 



138 THE GUIDING HAND. 



THE LORD'S LEADING. 

Thus far the Lord hath led us, in darkness and in day, 
Through all the various stages of the narrow, homeward way ; 
Long since, he took that journey — he trod that path alone, 
Its trials and its dangers full well himself hath known. 

Thus far the Lord hath led us ; the promise has not failed ; 
The enemy encountered oft has never quite prevailed ; 
The shield of faith has turned aside, or quenched each fiery dart, 
The Spirit's sword in weakest hands has forced him to depart. 

Thus far the Lord hath led us ; the waters have been high, 
But yet in passing through them, we felt that he was nigh. 
A very present helper in trouble we have found ; 
His comforts most abounded when our sorrows did abound. 

Thus far the Lord hath led us ; our need hath been supplied, 
And mercy hath encompassed us about on every side ; 
Still falls the daily manna ; the pure rock -fountains flow ; 
And many flowers of love and hope along the wayside grow. 

Thus far the Lord hath led us ; and will he now forsake 
The feeble ones whom for his own it pleases him to take ? 
Oh, never, never ! earthly friends may cold and faithless prove, 
But his is changeless pity and everlasting love. 

Calmly we look behind us, our joys and sorrows past, 
We know that all is mercy now, and shall be well at last; 
Calmly we look before us, — we fear no future ill, 
Enough for safety and for peace, if thou art with us still. 

Yes ; they that know thy name, Lord, shall put their trust in thee," 
While nothing in themselves but sin and helplessness they see. 
The race thou hast appointed us, with patience w^e can run, 
Thou wilt perform unto the end the work thou hast begun. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 



DREAMS AND IMPRESSIONS. 



' ' For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiv- 
eth it not. in a dream, in a vision of the night, when 
deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumbekings upon the 
bed*, then he openeth the ears of men, and sealetii 
their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his 

PURPOSE, AND HIDE PRIDE FROM MAN. IIe KEEPETH BACK 
HIS SOUL FROM THE PIT, AND HIS LIFE FROM PERISHING BY 

the sword." Job xxxiii. 14-18. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 



DBMS AND IMPBESSIONS. 



TENANT'S DELIVEBANCE. 

About the year 1744, when William Tennent, of 
New Jersey, a man eminent for his zeal and piety, 
was laboring in the great revivals of that time, he 
had associated with him a Mr. David Rowland who 
was very successful as a preacher of the gospel of 
Christ among all classes of people. An estimable 
and eloquent man, and deeply devoted to the service 
of his Heavenly Master, his celebrity and success 
gave great uneasiness to many careless worldlings, 
who sought happiness in the enjoyment of temporal 
things, and considered and represented Mr. Rowland 
and his brethren as hypocrites and fanatics. Many 
of the great men of New Jersey held this view of 
the case, among wh'om may be mentioned the Chief 
Justice, who was well known for his disbelief in 
divine revelation. 

There was at this time, prowling through the 
country, a noted man by the name of Tom Bell, whose 

(141) 



112 TIIF, GUIDING HAND. 

knowledge and understanding were very considerable, 
and who greatly excelled in low art and* cunning. 
His mind was totally debased, and his whole conduct 
betrayed a soul capable of descending to every 
species of iniquity. In all arts of theft, robbery, 
fraud, deception, and defamation, he was so deeply 
skilled, and thoroughly practiced, that it is believed 
he never had his equal in this country. He had been 
indicted in almost every one of the middle colonies ; 
but his ingenuity and cunning always enabled him to 
escape punishment. This man, unhappily, resembled 
Mr. Rowland in his external appearance, so as hardly 
to be known from him without the most careful 
examination. 

It so happened, that Tom Bell arrived one evening 
at a tavern in Princeton, dressed in a dark, parson's- 
gray frock. On his entering the tavern, about dusk, 
the late John Stockton, Esq., of that town, a pious 
and respectable man, to whom Mr. Rowland was well 
known, went up to Bell, and addressed him as Mr. 
Rowland, and invited him to go home with him. 
Bell assured him of his mistake. It was with some 
difficulty that Mr. Stockton acknowledged his error, 
and then informed Bell that it had arisen from his 
great resemblance to Mr. Rowland. This hint was 
sufficient for the prolific genius of that notorious 
impostor. 

The next day Bell went into the county of Hunter- 
don, and stopped in a neighborhood where Mr. Row- 
land had formerly preached once or twice, but where 
he was not intimately known. Here he met with a 



THE GUIDING HAXD. 143 

member of the congregation, to whom he introduced 
himself as the Rev. Mr. Rowland, who had preached 
to them some time before. This gentleman invited 
him to his house, to spend the week; and begged 
him, as the people were without a minister, to preach 
for them on the next Sunday; to which Bell agreed, 
and notice was accordingly given in the neighborhood. 
The impostor was treated with every mark of atten- 
tion and respect ; and a private room was assigned to 
him, as a study, to prepare for the coming Sunday. 
The sacred day arrived, and he was invited to ride 
to church with the ladies in the family wagon, while the 
master of the house accompanied them on an elegant 
horse . When they had arrived near the church , Bell , 
on a sudden, discovered that he had left his notes in 
his study, and proposed to ride back for them on the 
fine horse, by which moans he should be aide to return 
in time for the service. This proposal was instantly 
agreed to, and Bell mounted the horse, returned to the 
house, rilled the desk of his host, and made off with 
the horse. Wherever he stopped he called himself 
the Rev. David Rowland. 

At the time this event took place, Messrs. Tennent 
and Rowland had gone into Pennsylvania or Maryland, 
with Mr. Joshua Anderson and Mr. Benjamin Stevens 
— both members of a church contiguous to that where 
Bell had practiced his fraud — on business < f a relig- 
ious nature. Soon after their return, Mr. Rowland 
was charged with the above robbery; lie gave bonds 
to appear at the court at Trenton, and the affair made 
a great noise throughout the colony. At the court 



144 THE GUIDING HAND. 

of oyer and terminer, the judge charged the grand 
jury on the subject with great severity. After long 
consideration, the jury returned into the court without 
finding a bill. The judge reproved them, in an angry 
manner, and ordered them out again. They returned 
without finding a bill, and were again sent out with 
threatenings of severe punishment if they persisted 
in their refusal. At last they brought in a bill for 
the alleged crime. On the trial, Messrs. Tennent, 
Anderson, and Stevens appeared as witnesses, and 
fully proved an alibi in favor of Mr. Rowland, by 
swearing, that on the very day the robbery was 
committed, they were with Mr. Rowland, and heard 
him preach in Pennsylvania or Maryland. The jury 
accordingly acquitted him without hesitation, to the 
great joy of the well-disposed, but to the discom- 
fiture of the prosecutors, who, indignant at the failure 
of their plans, soon contrived another scheme to 
bring reproach upon these servants of the Lord. 

The testimony of the person who had been robbed 
was positive that Mr. Rowland was the robber ; and 
this testimony was corroborated by that of a number 
of individuals who had seen Tom Bell personating 
Mr. Rowland, using his name, and in the possession 
of the horse. These sons of Belial had been able, 
after great industry used for the purpose, to collect 
a mass of evidence of this kind, which they consid- 
ered as establishing the fact ; but Mr. Rowland was 
now out of their power by the verdict of not guilty. 
Their vengeance, therefore, was directed against the 
witnesses by whose testimony he had been cleared : 



THE GUIDIXG HAND. 145 

and they were accordingly arraigned for perjury, 
before a court of quarter sessions in the county ; and 
the grand jury received a strict charge, the plain 
import of which was that these good men ought to 
be indicted. After an examination of the testimony 
on one side only, as is the custom in such cases, the 
grand jury did accordingly find bills of indictment 
against Messrs. Tennent, Anderson, and Stevens, 
for willful and corrupt perjury. Their enemies, and 
the enemies of the gospel, now began to triumph. 
They gloried in the belief that an indelible stain 
would be fixed on the professors of religion, and of 
consequence, on religion itself; and that this new 
light, by which they denominated all appearance of 
piety, would soon be extinguished forever. 

These indictments were removed to the supreme 
court ; and poor Anderson, living in the country, and 
conscious of his entire innocence, could not brook the 
idea of lying under the odium of the hateful crime ot 
perjury, and demanded a trial at the first court of oyer 
and terminer. This proved most seriously injurious 
to him ; for he was pronounced guilty, and most cruelly 
and unjustly condemned to stand one hour on th 3 
court-house steps, with a paper on his breast, whereon 
was written, in large letters, "This is for willful and 
corrupt perjury ;" which sentence was performed upon 
him. 

Messrs. Tennent and Stevens were summoned to 
appear at the court, and attended accordingly ; de- 
pending on the aid of Mr. John Coxe, an eminent 
lawyer who had previously been employed to conduct 



146 THE GUIDING HAND. 

their defense. As Mr. Teiment was wholly unac- 
quainted with the nature of forensic litigation, and did 
not know of any person living who could prove his 
innocence, all the persons who w 7 ere with him being 
indicted, his only resource and consolation was to com- 
mit himself to the Divine will, and if he must suffer, 
to take it as from the hand of God, who he well knew 
could make even the wrath of man to praise him. And 
considering it as probable that he might suffer, he 
had prepared a sermon to be preached from the pillory 
if that should he his fate. His affectionate conore<m- 
tion felt deeply interested in his critical situation, and 
kept a clay of fasting and prayer on the occasion. 
On his arrival at Trenton, he found the famous Mr. 
Smith, of New York, father of the late Chief Justice 
of Canada, one of the ablest lawyers in America, and 
of a religious character, who had voluntarily attended 
to aid in his defense ; also his brother Gilbert, who was 
settled in the pastoral charge of the second Presby- 
terian church in Philadelphia, and who had brought 
Mr. John Kinsey, one of the first counselors of that 
city, for the same purpose. Messrs. Tennent and 
Stevens met these gentlemen at Mr. Coxe's the morn- 
ing before the trial was to come on. Mr. Coxe request- 
ed that they would bring in their witnesses, that they 
might examine them previously to their going into 
court. Mr. Tennent answered that he did not know 
of any witnesses but God and his own conscience. 
Mr. Coxe replied, "If you have no witnesses, sir, 
the trial must be put oft': otherwise you will most 
certainly be convicted. You w r ell know the strong 



THE GUIDING HAND. 147 

testimony that will be brought against you, and the 
exertions being made to accomplish your ruin." Mr. 
Teniient replied, kk I am sensible of all this, yet it 
never shall be said that I have delayed the trial, or 
been afraid to meet the justice of my country. I 
know my own conscience, and that God, Avhose I am 
and whom I serve, will never suffer me to fall by 
these snares of the devil, or by the wicked machin- 
ations of his agents or servants ; therefore, gentlemen, 
o-o on to the trial." 

Messrs. Smith and Kinsey, who were both religious 
men, told him that his confidence and trust in God as 
a Christian minister of the gospel, was well founded, 
and before a heavenly tribunal would be all-important 
to him ; but assured him it would not avail in an 
earthly court, and urged his consent to put off the 
trial. Mr. Tennent continued inflexible in his re- 
fusal ; on which Mr. Coxe told him, that since he 
was determined to go to trial, he had the satisfaction 
of informing him that the}' had discovered a flaw in 
the indictment, that might prove favorable to him on 
a demurrer. He asked for an explanation, and on 
finding that it was to admit the faction a legal point 
of view, and rest on the law arising from it, Mr. 
Tennent broke out with great vehemence, saying that 
this was another snare of the devil, and before he 
would consent to it he would suffer death. He 
assured his counsel that his confidence in God was so 
strong, and his assurance that He would bring about 
his deliverance some way or other was so great, that 
he did not wish them to delay the trial for a moment. 



148 THE GUIDfNO HANI). 

Mr. Stevens, whose faith was not of this descrip- 
tion, and who was bowed down to the ground under 
the most gloomy apprehensions of suffering as his 
neighbor Mr. Anderson had done, eagerly seized the 
opportunity of escape that was offered, and was 
afterwards discharged on the exception. 

Mr. Coxe still urged putting off the trial, charging 
Mr. Tennent with acting the part rather of a wild 
enthusiast, than of a meek and prudent Christian ; 
but he insisted that they should proceed, and left them 
in astonishment, not knowing how to act, when the 
bell summoned them to court. 

Mr. Tennent had not walked far in the street, before 
he met a man and his wife, who stopped him, and 
asked if his name was not Tennent. He answered 
in the affirmative, and begged to know if they had 
any business with him. The man replied, " You 
best know." He told his name, and said he Avas from 
a certain place (which he mentioned) in Pennsylvania 
or Maryland ; that Messrs. Rowland, Tennent, 
Anderson and Stevens had lodged either at his house, 
or in a house wherein he and his wife had been ser- 
vants, (it is not certain which,) at a particular time, 
which he named ; that on the following day they had 
heard Messrs. Tennent and Rowland preach; that 
some nights before they left home, he and his wife 
waked out of a sound sleep, and each told the other 
a dream which had just occurred, and which proved 
to be the same in substance — to wit, that he, Mr. 
Tennent, was at Trenton, in the greatest possible 
distress, and that it was in their power, and theirs 



THE GUIDING HAND. 149 

only, to relieve him. Considering it as a remarkable 
dream only, they again went to sleep, and it was 
twice repeated in exactly the same manner to both of 
them. This made so deep an impression on their 
minds that they set off, and here they were, and 
wanted to know what they were to do. 

Mr. Tennent immediately went with them to the 
court-house, and his counsel, on examining the man 
and his wife, and finding their testimony full to the 
purpose, were, as they well might he, in perfect 
astonishment. Before the trial began, another person, 
of a low character, called on Mr. Tennent, and told 
him that he was so harrassed in conscience, for the 
part he had been acting in this prosecution, that he 
could get no rest till he had determined to come and 
make a full confession. He sent this man to his 
counsel also. Soon after, Mr. Stockton, from Prince- 
ton, appeared and added his testimony. In short, 
they went to trial, and notwithstanding the utmost 
exertions of the ablest counsel, who had been employ- 
ed to aid the attorney-general against Mr. Tennent, 
the advocates on his side so traced every movement 
of the defendant on the Saturday, Sunday and Mon- 
day in question, and satisfied the jury so perfectly 
on the subject, that they did not hesitate honorably 
to acquit Mr. Tennent, by their unanimous verdict 
of not guilty, to the great confusion and mortification 
of his numerous opposers. 

Mr. Tennent assured the writer of this that during 
the whole of this business, his spirits never failed 
him, and that he contemplated the possibility of his 



150 THE GUIDING HAND. 

suffering so infamous a punishment as standing in 
the pillory without dismay, and had made prepara- 
tion, and was fully determined to deliver a sermon 
to the people while in that situation, if he should be 
placed in it. 

He went from Trenton to Philadelphia with his 
brother, and on his return, as he was rising the hill 
at the entrance of Trenton, without reflecting on what 
had happened, he accidentally cast his eyes on the 
pillory, which suddenly so filled him with horror, as 
completely to unman him, and it was with great diffi- 
culty that he kept himself from falling from his horse. 
He reached the tavern door in considerable danger — 
was obliged to be assisted to dismount, and it was 
some time before he could so get the better of his 
fears and confusion as to proceed on his journey. 
Such is the constitution of the human mind ! It will 
often resist with unshaken firmness the severest 
external pressure and violence ; and sometimes it- 
yields without reason when it has nothing to fear..- 
Or, should we not rather say, such is the support 
which God sometimes affords to his people in the time 
of their necessity, and such the manner in which he 
leaves them to feel their own weakness when that 
necessity is past, that all the praise and glory of this 
work, as well as their salvation, may be given to him 
to whom it is due ? 

The writer sincerely rejoices, that though a number 
of the extraordinary incidents in the life of Mr. Ten- 
nent cannot be vouched by public testimony and au- 
thentic documents, yet the singular manner in which 



THE GUIDING HAND. 151 

a gracious God did appear for this, his faithful servant, 
in the time of that distress which has just been 
noticed, is a matter of public notoriety, and capable 
of being verified by the most unquestionable testi- 
mony and records. 

This special instance of the interference of the 
righteous Judge of all the earth, ought to yield conso- 
lation to pious people in seasons of great difficulty 
and distress, where there are none that seem able to 

deliver them. Yet it ought to afford no encourage- 

© © 

ment to the enthusiast who refuses to use the means 
of preservation and deliverance which God puts in 
his power. True confidence in God is always accom- 
panied with the use of all lawful means, and with the 
rejection of all that are unlawful. It consists in an 
unshaken belief, that while right means are used, 
God will give that issue which shall be most for his 
glory, and his people's good. The extraordinary 
occurrence here recorded may also serve as a solemn 
warning to the enemies of God's people, and to the 
advocates of infidelity, not to strive by wicked and 
deep-laid machinations, to oppose the success of the 
gospel, nor to attempt to injure the persons and 
character of those faithful servants of the Most High, 
whom sooner or later he will vindicate, to the un- 
speakable confusion of all who have persecuted and 
traduced them. 

The foregoing account, taken from the memoir of 
William Tennent, most clearly illustrates the wisdom 
exhibited in God's gracious providence, and the deliv- 
ering power manifested in the workings of his guiding 



152 THE GUIDING HAND. 

hand. The same God yet lives ; let us trust in him 
in every trying hour, knowing that he is still, as he 
has been in ages past, a refuge in the day of trouble, 
a covert from the storm, a present help in every time 
of need. 



THE WEDDING KOBE. 

Near Elberfeldt, in Germany, there lived two pious 
men, very intimate, one of whom had a worldly wife. 
The husband was taken ill, and on his death-bed 
drew a promise from his friend that he would visit 
his wife, pray for her, and lose no opportunity of 
recommending to her the grace of God as revealed in 
the person and work of Jesus Christ. This the friend 
readily engaged to do; and, upon the husband's 
death, which happened shortly after, he visited the 
widow, and as long as her grief lasted, his visits and 
the truth he advanced were well received. Time 
passed on, but as the wound began to heal, his visits 
became more and more irksome to the lady, until at 
last she told him that unless he would speak of some- 
thing more pleasant, he might as well stay away 
altogether. Hurt, but not offended, he discontinued 
his visits, but not his prayers. After a while, how- 
ever, he forgot her entirely. Two years had rolled 
by, when awaking suddenly in the night, he felt 
unhappy and depressed ; and among other things, he 
thought of his friend, and then of the wife, and with 
much sorrow of heart he prayed the Lord that his sin 
of negligence in forgetting to pray for her, and 



THE GUIDING HAND. 153 

allowing himself to be hindered from carrying out 
his promise, might not be the cause of a precious 
soul being lost. lie rose early in the morning, and 
though he had eight miles to walk, by six o'clock he 
was at the chateau where the widow resided. He 
rang the bell. 

" Can I see madam ?" 

The servant looked strangely at him and went 
away. In a few moments she returned. 

"You can see madam; she has been longing to 
see you ; she is dying /" 

Pie went up, and to his surprise and happiness 
found her full of joy and peace in believing. She 
stretched out her hand to him and said : 

"Ah, sir! I have found a Saviour just such as I 
need." 

He begged her to repeat, if she were able, the 
circumstances of her conversion. She said she felt 
aide. The night before, when she fell asleep, she 
was much disturbed, and had the following dream : 

A carriage v she thought, drove up to the house; 
the footman jumped down, threw open the door, and 
told her that she was invited to the wedding of the 
king's son ; but she must be very quick in dressing, 
as he could not wait. She ran to her wardrobe to 
find her best dress, but when she put it over her 
head, it fell around her in dust and ashes. A second, 
and a third met the same fate. The footman cried 
out: "Make haste or we must go." Her servant 
jumped into the carriage, the door slammed, and as 
she heard the wheels roll away, she sank on her bed 



154 THE GUIDING HAND. 

in an agony of mortified shame. How long she lay 
she knew not, but she was roused by a voice whis- 
pering in her ear : " There is no robe that will cover 
you but the robe of the righteousness of Jesus 
Christ." 

She awoke and found it a dream ; but though the 
vision was gone, the reality of her solemn position as 
having" to do with the living God, was fullv before 
her. She cried to him, and before the day dawned 
had found salvation through the blood of a crucified 
Saviour. This was her story. A few hours after 
she fell asleep in Christ. 



SENATOB LINN'S BESCUE. 

Those who were familiar with the political history 
of our country years ago, remember well Dr. Linn, 
of Missouri. Distinguished for talents and profes- 
sional ability, but yet more for the excellence of his 
heart, he received, by a distinction as rare as it was 
honorable, the unanimous vote of the legislature for 
the office of senator of the United States. 

In discharge of his congressional duties, he was 
residing with his family in Washington, during the 
spring and summer of 1840, the last year of Mr. 
Van Buren's administration. 

One clay during the month of May of that year, 
Dr. and Mrs. Linn received an invitation to a large 
and formal dinner-party, given by a public function- 
ary, and to which the most prominent members of 
the administration party, including the President 



THE GUIDING HAND. 155 

himself and Mr. Buchanan, were invited guests. Dr. 
Linn was very anxious to be present ; but when the 
day came, finding himself suffering from an attack of 
indigestion, he begged his wife to bear his apology 
in person, and make one of the dinner-party, leaving 
him at home. To this she somewhat reluctantly con- 
sented. She was accompanied to the door of their 
host by a friend, General Jones, who promised to 
return and remain with Dr. Linn during the evening. 

At table Mrs. Linn sat next to General Macomb, 
who had conducted her to dinner ; and immediately 
opposite to her sat Silas Wright, senator from New 
York, the most intimate friend of her husband, and 
a man by whose death, shortly after, the country 
sustained an irreparable loss. 

Even during the early part of dinner, Mrs. Linn 
felt very uneasy about her husband. She tried to 
reason herself out of this, as she knew that his indis- 
position was not at all serious ; but in vain. She 
mentioned her uneasiness to General Macomb ; but 
he reminded her of what she herself had previously 
told him, — that General Jones had promised to re- 
main with Dr. Linn, and that, in the very unlikely 
contingency of any sudden illness, he "would be sure 
to apprize her of it. Notwithstanding these repre- 
sentations, as dinner drew toward a close this unac- 
countable uneasiness increased to such an uncon- 
trollable impulse to return home, that, as she ex- 
pressed it to me, she felt that she could not sit there 
a moment longer. Her sudden pallor was noticed 
by Senator Wright, and excited his alarm. "I am 



156 THE GUIDING HAND. 

sure }T>u are ill, Mrs. Linn," he said ; "what is the 
matter?" She replied that she was quite well, but 
that she must return to her husband. Mr. Wright 
sought, as General Macomb had done, to calm her 
fears ; but she replied to him, "If you wish to do me 
a favor for which I shall be orateful while I live, 
make some excuse to our host, so that we can leave 
the table." Seeing her so greatly excited, he complied 
with her request, and he and Mrs Wright accompanied 
Mrs. Linn home. 

As they were taking leave of her at the door of 
her lodgings, Senator Wright said, "I shall call 
to-morrow morning, and have a good laugh with the 
doctor and yourself over your panic apprehensions." 

As Mrs. Linn passed hastily up stairs, she met the 
landlady. " How is Dr. Linn?" she anxiously asked. 
"Very well, I believe," was the reply; "he took a 
bath more than an hour ago, and I dare say is sound 
asleep by this time. General Jones said he was 
doing extremely well." 

"The General is with him, is he not?" 

"I believe not. I think I saw him pass out about 
half an hour ago." 

In a measure reassured, Mrs. Linn hastened to her 
husband's bed-chamber, the door of which was closed. 
As she opened it a dense smoke burst upon her, in 
such stifling quantity that she staggered and fell on 
the threshold. Recovering herself after a few seconds, 
she rushed into the room. The bolster was on fire, 
and the feathers burned with a bright glow and a 
suffocating odor. She threw herself upon the bed ; 



THE GUIDING HAND. 157 

but the fire, half smothered till that moment, was 
fanned by the draught from the opened door, and, 
kindling into sudden flame, caught her dress, which 
was in a blaze on the instant. At the same moment 
her eye fell on the large bath-tub that had been used 
by her husband. She sprang into it, extinguishing 
her burning dress ; then, returning to the bed, she 
caught up the pillow and a sheet that was on fire, 
scorching her arms in so doing, and plunged both 
into the witter. Finally, exerting her utmost strength, 
she drew from the bed her insensible husband. It 
was then only that she called to the people of the 
house for aid. 

Dr. Sewell was instantly summoned ; but it was 
full half an hour before the sufferer gave any signs 
whatever of returning animation. He did not leave 
his bed for nearly a week ; and it was three months 
before he entirely recovered from the effects of the 
accident. 

"How fortunate it was," said Dr. Sewell to Mrs-. 
Linn, "that you arrived at the very moment you 
did ! Five minutes more — nay, three minutes — and, 
in all human probability, you would never have seen 
your husband alive again." 

Mr. Wright called, as he promised, the next 
morning. "Well, Mrs. Linn," said he, smiling, 
"you have found out by this time how foolish that 
strange presentiment of yours was." 

" Come up stairs," she replied. And she led him 
to his friend, scarcely yet able to speak ; and then 
she showed the remains of the half-consumed bolster 



158 THE GUIDING HAND. 

and partially-burned bed-linen. Whether the sight 
changed his opinion on the subject of pesentiments, I 
cannot tell ; but he turned pale as a corpse, and did 
not utter a word. 

I had all of the above particulars from Mrs. Linn 
herself, in Washington, on the 4th of July, 1859, 
together with the permission to publish them in 
illustration of the providence of God, attested by 
date and names. 



THE DYKE-MAN'S DELIVEEANCE. 

In the Monthly Reporter of the British and For- 
eign Bible Society, for January 1, 1867, is an account 
of a tour in Germany, by the Society's Frankfort 
Agent, Rev. G. P. Davies, and of a pleasant after- 
noon he spent with colporteurs Bocke, Vosburg, and 
Miiller, faithful laborers in the Bible cause : — 

We were in the large room of an East Frisian 
village Inn, where we had dined together. We were 
seated round the turf fire, which was burning briskly 
on the flat, slated floor, under the wide, open chim- 
ney. All in-doors was in cheerful contrast with the 
gray clouds and the cold, drizzling rain which was 
falling outside. The conversation turned now on 
this topic, now on that ; now on themes related to 
Bible work — the old themes — the hatred of the un- 
godly, the indifference of the thoughtless, the joy of 
believers, the various forms of encouragement and 
discouragement. Then we talked of the dangers 
connected with the work in its bearing on the inner 



THE GUIDING HAND. 159 

life, such as the clanger of confounding being occu- 
pied about the Bible, with the diligent, personal use 
of the Bible ; or, again, the temptation to which the 
very best colporteurs are exposed, of sacrificing time 
which ought to be spent in house-to-house visitation, 
and the diligent prosecution of their work, in inter- 
course, otherwise profitable, with friends in whom 
they find Christian brethren. "Yet," said one, ' ' Scrip- 
ture alone is not sufficient for us ; it must be read 
with prayer. We must clothe ourselves in this 
double armor if we are to work as we ought." 

This allusion to prayer provoked a lively discus- 
sion of the question, How far the believer may make 
temporal good the subject of prayer? May we take 
everything, our very household cares and wants, to 
the throne of grace ? 

" Let us look at this matter," said one of our num- 
ber, "in the light of facts. I will relate a case that 
came within the circle of my personal knowledge. 

"Here, in East Friesland, our country, like Holland, 
lies lower than the sea. We therefore defend our- 
selves against the water by high dvkes alons: the 
coast, and on the banks of the tidal rivers. Each 
holder of land is responsible for the condition of a 
certain amount of dyke, and has to keep a dyke-man. 
These men live an isolated life in small cottages close 
to the dyke, and because their time is not wholly 
occupied with this labor, they have always some 
other home occupation, generally weaving. 

" My mother had such a dyke-man. He lived some 
miles distant from our house, and we rarely saw him. 



160 THE GUIDING HAND. 

He Avas a married man, and had grown-up children, 
one of whom was employed in my mother's service, 
" One day my mother was seized with an unaccount- 
able sort of uneasiness. She began, she knew not 
why, to put meat, bread, and other provisions into a 
small bag, and when she had done this she returned 
to her ordinary duties. 

"Into the dyke-man's house sorrow had entered. 
He had been ill. His earnings were spent, and they 
had come to their last loaf. On that very day, to 
add to their distress, his married daughter, with her 
infant child, came from a long distance to see them. 
The dyke-man and his wife went to bed fasting, 
reserving the bread for the mother and her child. 

"The next morning the dyke-man's wife rose in a 
wonderfully cheerful frame of mind. She said, 'God 
will provide for us this very day. I do not know 
how, but I am sure he will.' Her faith was conta- 
gious. Husband and daughter shook oif their gloom. 
and waited for what should come. But the morning 
passed, and noon came and brought no sign of help 
and relief. The afternoon and night set in. The 
tarnished husband lost all hope, and spoke hard 
things of her and of God. 

"AYhen his day's work was done the dyke-man's 
son, my mother's servant, came to her, and said that 
he had a very strong desire to go home and see his 
parents. If his mistress would allow it, by leaving 
his father's cottage before daybreak, he could be 
back in time for his work next morning. ' In that 
case,' said my mother, 'yon may go, and as you are 



THE GUIDING HAND. 161 

going yon may just as well take this bag with yon,' 
giving him the bag of provisions. 

" lie set off across the heavy marsh-land in the dark 
night, cheering himself with the thought of a few 
pleasant hours in his father's cottage. He arrived 
and entered, but instead of joy he found hunger and 
tears. He had n ) knowledge whatever of his father's 
illness and distress. He gave his mother the little 
bag. She opened it : out came bread, bacon, cheese, 
and other provisions. They gazed at each other in 
amazement. 'Wife,' said the dyke-man, 'you take 
first ; it is you who have gained us this.' She replied, 
6 No; first of all the child, and then the mother.' 
Then to the dyke-man she said, 'And now you.' 
Then he said again, ' And now, wife, you.' But she 
only wept, and took nothing, but quietly said, — 
' I have meat to eat that ye know not of.' ' 



WESLEY AND HIS PEBSECUTOBS. 

A correspondent of the Advocate of Floliness, 
communicates an incident in the life of John Wesley, 
which had not before appeared in print, and which 
shows (he meekness of the man of God under abuse, 
and the retributions of providence upon his per- 
secutors : — 

The circumstance was related by an old man about 
eighty years of age, named Sheerin, a Roman Cath- 
olic, who lived near the town of Boyle, Ireland, and 
who saw not only the incident, but also the subse- 
quent end of the family. In course of conversation 
6 



1(32 THE GUIDING HAND. 

about how some families melt and die out, he said, 
' ' I remember a circumstance that occurred when I 
was a very young man. I was on a holiday after 
coming out from mass in the chapel of Boyle. It 
was customary then, as it is now, to stand in Bridge 
street and have a chat with the neighbors. At this 
place there was a hotel, owned by one of the richest 
men in the town ; he had two tanneries, several large 
farms, well stocked, together with other property. 
I saw one John Wesley, a very nice old man, with 
long white hair ; when he came forward to the part of 
the street where the crowd was, he got up on a stone 
outside of the hotel door, that was used for a seat, 
and commenced preaching to the people. In a few 
minutes after he commenced, some of the family 
went up stairs and procured a chamber vessel and 
emptied the contents out of a window down on his 
head. He seemed to take no notice of what was 
done, further than taking out his handkerchief, and 
wiping his head and face. 

"When the people saAV what was done, and that he 
took it so patiently, they said it was a shame ; and 
from that forward, they listened to him very atten- 
tively during the remainder of his sermon. When 
he had ended his discourse, he turned, and looking 
at the house, said, 'God forgive you, and I forgive 
you ; but I am not sent of God if that family comes 
to a good end.'" The old man said the prediction 
proved true. In twelve months after, one of ihe 
sons was either hanged, or hanged himself; another 
came to a violent death ; and the daughter became a 



THE GUIDTXG IIAXD. 163 

castaway ; the father and mother were reduced to 
extreme want, and not a trace of the family was to be 
found in about five years' lime. This occurred, I 
should judge from the old man's statement, between 
the years 1780 and 1790. 



A MEMOBY OF WYOMING. 

The beautiful valley of Wyoming, on the banks of 
the Susquehanna river, in Luzerne Co., Penn., has 
long been known alike to the student of history and 
the lovers of poetry and song. 

Dr. W. H. Van Doren records, in The Evangelist, 
an incident which recalls the calamities that over- 
whelmed Wyoming, and illustrates the gracious care 
of an ever-present God, for those who trust in him. 

It was in the beginning of July, 1778, that an 
aged saint, who with his four sons, lived on a moun- 
tain overlooking the valley, found that his barrel cf 
meal was nearly exhausted, and bade his sons fill 
their sacks with grain, and early in the morning de- 
scend the long road to the mill in the valley. A * 
requested, before daylight each of the boys had fed 
his horse, and they were all prepared by sunrise for 
their journey. And as the day would be too far 
spent to have their grain ground, they were accus- 
tomed at such times to spend the night near the mill 
in Wyoming. 

As the patriarch came forth in the morning from 
the closet of prayer, and said to the waiting sons, 
" Not to-day ! " the young men were greatly surprised. 



164 THE GUIDING HAM). 

6 'But, father, our supply is used up, and why shall 
we delay?" they said, as they turned and gazed over 
the valley which lay in calm and quiet peacefulness 
before them. 

"Not to-day, my sons," repeated with emphasis 
by the man of prayer, satisfied the youths that the 
father meant what he said. He added, "I know 
not what it means, but in my prayer my mind was 
deeply impressed with this word, ' Let them abide 
till the morrow.'" 

Without charging their venerated parent with su- 
perstition or ignorance, the obedient sons yielded to 
his word, unladed their beasts, placed them in their 
stalls, and waited for another morning to come. 

That memorable night a horde of savages, with 
torch and tomahawk, entered Wyoming Valley, and 
commenced their work of destruction, and it is said 
that before the bloody drama ended, not a house, 
barn, church, school, or mill, escaped the flames ; and 
few of the inhabitants escaped the sudden but deadly 
blows of the savages. From one end of the valley to 
the other the settlers were butchered or burned with 
remorseless fury. 

In the morning at sunrise, the father and sons were 
standing on the highest point, and lo ! the valley was 
filled with volumes of ascending smoke and flames. 
The awful truth flashed on their minds. The aged 
saint kneeled down with his sons on the mountain- 
top, and in humble, adoring prayer thanked God for 
the promise, " The angel of the Lord encampeth 
round about them that fear him." 



THE GUIDING IIAKD. ■ 165 

It was said of children, "Their angels do always 
behold the fice of my Father which is in heaven.*' 
What are all the mailed troops, all the harnessed war- 
riors surrounding the steps of royalty, compared with 
this celestial life-guard of the saints ? A grand truth, 
a glorious promise, that the humblest , most despised, 
unknown believer has a nobler life-guard than the 
proudest monarch that ever filled a throne on earth. 
Great honor have they who fear thy name, O God! 
Saints are kings, but kings in exile ; and while they 
wander in the desert, their God is near, and his angels 
will protect and defend his feeble, waiting flock, and 
bring them to their rest at last. 



DB, BOND'S VISION. 

Among the consequences resulting from the pre- 
dicted outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days, 
it was declared that ' 'your young men shall see visions 
and your old men shall dream dreams." And though 
this scripture seems almost abandoned to the mercy 
of enthusiasts and fanatics, yet the numerous "visions 
and revelations of the Lord " recorded in the books 
of the New Testament, as well as in the annals of the 
church of Christ in all ages, afford sufficient and con- 
vincing evidence that this word of the Lord was 
never spoken in vain, but has received, and may be 
yet receiving, an abundant fulfillment ; and that, not 
among the fanatical and extravagant and half-crazed 
followers of new notions and strange doctrines, but 
among those whose piety, sobriety, intelligence, and 



166 THE GUIDING HAND. 

usefulness, mark them as chosen vessels to bear the 
words of Christ to the perishing sons of men. 

In an obituary notice of Dr. Thomas E. Bond, 
which was published, shortly after his death, in the 
columns of The OJiristidn Advocate, of which he 
had been for several years the. editor, there was 
recorded the following remarkable vision in the early 
history of this celebrated itinerant preacher. The 
writer mentions it as, "A very extraordinary incident 
in the life of Dr. Bond, which we narrate with great 
doubt as to the propriety of its publication. He very 
rarely mentioned it, and never ventured to designate 
or explain it. Its truth is, however, beyond question. 
The circumstances forbid the supposition of optical 
illusion or temporary hallucination. There are those 
living who testify to such of the facts as were sub- 
ject to observation, and the memorials of the trans- 
action are yet distinctly preserved in the religious 
character of sons and daughters of some who were 
immediately affected by it. 

''Being on a visit to his father, he was deeply 
grieved to find the church, which he had left in a 
state (jf prosperous activity, languishing, lukewarm, 
and weak. His thoughts were much occupied with 
the subject, and, of course, it was the matter of earn- 
est and frequent prayer. In this state of mind, one 
morning, he was walking over the fields to a neiirh- 
boring house, when suddenly lie seemed to be in a 
room where a number of people were assembled, 
apparently for worship. The room he recognized 
as an apartment in the house of a neighbor, where a 



THE GUIDING HAND. Ki7 

praver-meetiiur was to be held on the evening of 
that day. Had he stood in the midst of it he could 

not have been more conscious of the scene. There 
was nothing of the dim, or shadowy, or dreamy, 
about it. He recognized the people, noticed where 
they sat and stood, remarked his father near the 
tabic j at which a preacher was rising to give out a 
hymn, raid near the middle of the congregation he 
saw a man named C, for whose salvation he felt par- 
ticular anxiety, standing with his son beside him. 
While gazing with astonishment upon the scene, he 
heard the words, ' Go and tell C. that he has an 
offer of salvation for the last time.' 

" Natural ty supposing that the too great concen- 
tration of mind upon one subject had induced some 
hallucination of the senses, Mr. Bond fell down on 
his knees and besought God to preserve his reason. 
The scene, however, continued ; it would not disap- 
pear, nor change in any of its particulars. In vain 
he struggled to dispel it ; the voice yet repeated with 
indubitable distinctness, 'Go and tell G. that he lias 
an offer of salvation for the last time.' Yet how 
would he dare to deliver so awful a message ! For a 
great "length of time he struggled for deliverance 
from what he still considered an illusion. At length 
an expedient occurred to him which he adopted. He 
had never been in the room in which ho Avas appar- 
ently present, when it was used for a religious 
meeting. He, of course, did not know how it was 
commonly prepared for such occasions. lie therefore 
1.1 A ■..•■] with great care the particulars of the scene. 



168 THE GUIDING HAND. 

He saw where the little table for the preacher, the 
benches and chairs for the people, were placed. He 
noticed his acquaintances, and where they sat and 
stood, and when he was satisfied that he had possessed 
himself perfectly of these details, he said, ' I will go 
to this meeting, and if I see things there to correspond 
with what I now see, it shall be as a sign from the 
Lord, and I Avill deliver the message.' Immediately 
the scene vanished, and he was alone in the green fields. 
" With a spirit indescribably agitated he returned 
home, where he found ladies who required him to 
escort them a long distance, and it was someAvhat 
past the hour fixed for the meeting when he reached 
the awful place. During the day he had freely in- 
dulged the hope that on his entrance into the room 
his trouble w r ould disappear. He thought he had 
been the subject of an illusion, the fruit of an excited 
brain, and that a want of correspondence immediately 
to be detected between the real scene and the one 
presented to his disordered fancy, woidd at once 
satisfy him as to the morbid character of his morning 
vision, and release him from the obligation of deliv- 
ering the terrible message with which he was condi- 
tionally charged . When he opened the door, however, 
he saw again, in all its minuteness of detail, the 
morning: scene. In vain he searched the room for a 
variant particular. There sat his father in the desig- 
nated place. The preacher at the table was rising to 
give out the hymn. In the midst of the room stood 
C, with his son beside him. Everything demanded 
that the message should be delivered. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 169 

" After the preliminary exercises, he rose and 
stated the circumstances as we have related them, 
and then going to C, he laid his hand upon him, and 
repeated the words lie had heard. The effect was 
indescribable. C. and his son fell down together and 
called upon God. An awful solemnity rested upon 
all present. Many cried for mercy, and from that 
time began a revival of religion which spread far and 
wide; the fruits of which are yet seen, after many 
days. 

" In the midst of this extraordinary scene, the 
lather of Dr. Bond, who was too deaf to hear his 
words, sat an axious observer. He was a calm man, 
whose Quaker education had not lost its influence 
over his religious character and views. After the 
meeting he asked Thomas what he had said to produce 
such an effect. He frankly told him all. The old 
man mused awhile and said, 'You did right.' 

" About this incident there will be different opin- 
ions. We shall not express any. The principal 
actor preferred to express none. Vse only state the 
facts as related by himself, and confirmed, without 
inquiry, since his death, by one who was present at 
the extraordinary meeting. T\ e think however, with 
his father, that he ' did right.' To have done other- 
wise would at least have been unreasonable, perhaps 
impious. Philosophy must leave room for God in 
his own world. Incredulity and superstition are 
equally dishonorable to the understanding. In all 
cases right reason determines by evidence." 

While infidelity h ;s been struggling for years to 



170 THE GUIDING HAND. 

mock each trace of supernatural power away from 
the church of God, and, taking" advantage of the 
unbelieving cowardice of formalists and skeptics, has 
caused Christians to hide the knowledge of such facts 
as this in their own hearts ; and while fanatics have 
brought God's work into disrepute by extravagant 
pretensions and unfounded claims ; and while Satan, 
having driven the church to cringing silence, and the 
world to blind and unreasoning incredulity regarding 
all supernatural powers and spiritual blessings, has 
taken advantage of this state of things to pour upon 
an unreasonable multitude the signs and lying won- 
ders wrought by seducing spirits, whose aim and 
purpose is to deceive if it were possible the very 
elect, and persuade the people that there is no divine 
power but that which comes through their profane 
witchcrafts and devilish incantations, — Ave rejoice 
that God gives grace to lift up a standard for the 
people in the midst of a flood of scoffing Unbelief, 
and testify and prove by credible witnesses and by 
numerous facts the presence and the might of the 
Holy Ghost in the church, yet working by mighty 
signs and wonders to convict the sinner, to comfort 
the saint, to save the perishing, and to glorify the 
Lord. And we are glad that from day to day fresh evi- 
dences and facts arc brought to our knowledge, which 
show that there is yet a God in Israel whose might 
and power are manifested in the experiences of his 
humble, trusting ones ; and that the Lord's arm is 
not shortened that he cannot save, nor his ear heavy 
that he cannot hear. But while we recognize these 



THE GUIDING HAND. 171 

facts, we also see in the wreck and ruin that has 
marked the paths of those whose pretensions to spir- 
itual gifts and powers have been loud and boastful, a 
most solemn warning to the humble children of the 
Lord to "believe not every spirit, but try the 
spirits whether they are of God, because many false 
prophets have gone out into the world."' 

The prince of the power of the air seems to be 
marshaling his unclean legions for the final fray ; and 
if he can persuade men to accept all spiritual preten- 
sions, and so receive the " strong delusions" and 
"lying wonders" of the devil, or else discard all 
supernatural experiences, and so reject the mighty 
working of the Holv Ghost ; — in either case he sue- 
ceeds iu his purpose of deception and destruction. 
But if any man do God's will " he shall know of the 
doctrine," and a loving obedience and strict adher- 
ence to the written word of God, with a proper 
apprehension of the character of the "perilous 
times " in which Ave live in these last days, will 
prove a safeguard against fanaticism on the one hand 
and formality on the other, and thus " the shield of 
faith " shall ' ' quench all the fiery darts of the 
adversary." 



THE CIECLE OF FIEE. 

The following thrilling tale, related by Dr. Guthrie, 
the eloquent Scottish preacher and writer, illustrates 
the power of prayer and the guidance of Providence 
in a most noticeable degree. May it teach us to give 



172 THE GUIDING HAND. 

heed to the counsel of the still small voice, remem- 
bering that as many as are led by the Spirit of God, 
they are the sons of God ; and that though Ave may 
not fully know the errand upon which God would 
send us, jet if we seek to know and do his will, he 
will guide us by his eye, and direct our steps aright. 

" I was in the habit of visiting a decent widow, as 
paralysis made it impossible for her to attend church. 
She was tended by a very dutiful daughter, Avho, 
working at n flax-mill in the neighborhood, toiled 
hard, and contented herself with plain dress and sim- 
ple fare, that she might help to maintain her mother. 
Before leaving the cottage for her work, she was in 
the habit of heaping up the refuse of the mill in the 
grate and kindling it. She placed her helpless mother 
in a chair right before the lire, and as this fuel burned 
slowly away the old woman was kept comfortable till 
her return. 

" It happened one day that I left my manse, and 
skirting the walls of the old church-yard, and passing 
the corn-mill, with its busy sound and flashing wheel, 
I took my way clown the winding dell to the cottage 
of the old Avoman, which stood in its garden, emboAv- 
ered among trees. Rut, having met a parishioner, 
with whom I had some subject of interest to talk 
about, I made a halt ; and sitting down on a bank 
of thyme, Ave entered into conversation. Ere the 
subject Avas half exhausted, the widow rose to my 
recollection. I felt somehoAV that I must cut it short, 
and hasten aAvay on my visit. But the idea Avas dis- 
missed, and the conversation Avent on. HoAvever, it 



THE GUIDING HANI). 173 

occurred again and again, till, with a feeling that I 
was neglecting a call of duty, as by an uncontrollable 

impulse I rose to my feet, and made haste to the 
cottage. Opening the door, a sight met my eyes 
that for the moment nailed me to the spot. 

<; The erection of mill-refuse which had been built 
from the hearth some feet up the open, wide chim- 
ney, having its foundations eaten away, had fallen, 
and precipitating itself forward, surrounded the help- 
less paralytic within a circle of fire. The accident 
took place some minutes before I entered. She had 
cried out, but no ear was there to hear, nor hand to 
help. Catching the loose refuse about her, on and 
on, nearer and nearer, the flames crept. It was a 
terrible sight for the two Wigtown women — martyrs, 
staked far out in the sands of Solway Frith, to mark 
the sea-foam crawl nearer and nearer them ; it was 
more terrible still for this poor woman in her lone 
cottage, without any great cause to die for, to sit 
there and see the fire creeping closer, drawing nearer 
and nearer to her feet. By the time I had entered, 
it had almost reached her, where she sat motionless, 
speechless, pale as death, looking down on the fire as 
it was about to seize her clothes and burn her to a 
cinder. Ere it caught I had time, and no more, to 
make one bound from the door to the hearth-stone, 
and seizing her chair and all, in my arms, to pluck 
her from the jaws of a cruel, fiery death. 

' 'By what law of nature, when I lingered on the 
road, was I moved, without the remotest idea of her 
danger, to cut short, against all my inclinations, an 



174 THE GUIDING HAND. 

interesting conversation, and hurry on to the house, 
which I reached just in the nick of time ? — one or two 
minutes later, the flames had caught her clothes, and 
I had found her in a blaze of lire. Be it mine to live 
and die iu the belief of a present and presiding, as 
well as a personal God ; in the faith which inspired 
my aged friend to thank Him for her wonderful de- 
liverance, and the boy to explain his calm courage 
on the roaring deep, in these grand but simple words : 
' My Father is at the helm.'" 



PRAYER FOR A CANDLE. 

There was, not long ago, a poor widows who tried 
hard to provide for her family by her work. She 
was a pious woman, and had taught her children to 
look to their heavenly Father as their ever-living 
Friend, who sent them day by day their daily bread. 
One morning, however, her faith was sorely tried. 
There was only enough food for one meal. She gave 
her children their breakfast, and said sadly, as she 
sent them to school, "There, now you have had all 
I can give you, and 1 don't know where you will get 
your dinner from." 

Her little boy, a child of ten years old, looked 
earnestly in his mother's face, and said, "Mother, 
are you tired of trusting God?" The poor widow 
was quite overcome : her child's gentle reproof went 
to her heart. She had taught him to believe in his 
heavenly Father's care, and now he was teaching her. 

She said nothing, but as soon as her children had 



THE GLIDING HAND. 175 

left the house, she went to her bedroom, and there 
asked forgiveness for the faithless thought. Not 
long after, a lady entered the house. She had no 
idea of the circumstances of the family, but, unknown 
to herself, she was the means employed by God to 
answer the widow's prayer, and to show her the truth 
of that promise, " While they are yet speaking, I 
will hear." She had brought some work to be done, 
and laid down the money, beforehand, saying she 
thought they might find it useful to have it at once. 
When the children returned from school, a comfort- 
able dinner was ready for them, and from that day 
they never wanted. 

And art thou tired, poor weary one, cumbered with 
many cares, art thou tired of trusting God? "Cast 
not away thy confidence, which hath great recom- 
pense of reward." Hear another instance of God's 
answer to prayer : — 

There was a poor old woman who earned a scanty 
living by selling rags. She was strictly honest, and 
used to put by her pence for the rent before taking 
any for her own use. She became known to a lady 
who was kind to her, and often sent her a little help. 
This lady went out for some time, and, on the even- 
ing of her return, she was kneeling down to thank 
God for his preserving care, and was asking him to 
show her what she could do to prove her love, when 
suddenly it seemed as if she heard a voice saying, 
"Go at once, and take poor Sarah a pound of can- 
dles." 

The lady did not go at first, — she thought it was so 



17G THE GUIDING HAND, 

strange to take candles ; would not a pound of meat 
or butter be better? But the call seemed so clear, 
that she put a few things into her basket with the 
candles, and went at once to the poor attic where 
Sarah lived. It was so dark that nothing could be 
clearly seen. The old woman was just rising from 
her knees, and was astonished to find the lady there. 
" What can have brought you here, ma'am, at this 
time?" said Sarah. "First," said the lady, b 'tell me 
what you were praying for." "Why, ma'am, you 
will think it very odd, but I was asking God to send 
me a candle, for my neighbor has lent me a large print 
Bible, just what I wanted so much, and I cannot see 
to read it without a light; so I thought it must lie 
according to God's will that I should be able to read 
his holy Book." 

Tears came into the lady'£ eyes, for she felt that 
her heavenly Father had indeed condescended to use 
her as his messenger, and she held the packet of can- 
dles to Sarah, saying, "God has sent them to you." 

The old woman wept too, and both united in won- 
der and thankfulness to Him who delights to do for 
his dependent, praying children, "exceeding abun- 
dantly above all that Ave ask or think." 

You may not have what you ask for, but it will 
strengthen you under your disappointment, to know 
that it was God's will to refuse your request, and that 
he did so because, seeing the future, he intended to 
give you a higher blessing than the one you would 
have asked for yourself. Your child cries when you 
take a dangerous plaything from his hand, or deny 



THE GUIDING HAND. 177 

him some unsuitable pleasure, but he will thank you 
when he is older for this proof of your love. 

And we are only children here. We must pray 
for faith to be enabled sincerely to ask, "Thy will, 
not mine, be done;" and when we, too, arc grown 
older, and have entered into our heavenly home, that 
"purchased possession" for those who belong to 
Christ, purchased for us by a Saviour's blood, then 
shall we be able to look back to life's teachings, 
whether of joy or sorrow, and to say from the full- 
ness of our hearts, "He hath done all things well." 
Therefore, "Be careful for nothing, but in everything, 
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let 
your requests be made known unto God." 



FLEMING'S PROPHETIC WARNING. 

"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy ;" 
and, as "prophecy came not in old time by the will 
of man ; but holy men of God spake as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost," so throughout all ago ..; 
the history of the church bears witness, that amor, >; 
those who have faithfully Inrne "the testimony of 
Jesus" to mankind, there have been men of sound 
judgment, sobriety, piety, and spiritual understanding, 
who at various times have testified to the impelling 
power of the prophetic spirit which has caused them 
to speak with a might and a wisdom and a foreknowl- 
edge not their own ; and whose words thus spoken 
have been made to stand firm against all the craft and 
scoffing of the ungodly, as a demonstration of the 



178 THE GUIDING HAND. 

wisdom and the power of that Spirit which "search- 
eth all things, even the deep things of God," and 
takes the things of God, and shows them to his peo- 
ple. 

An eminent example of this may be found in the 
history of Robert Fleming, who was born at Tester, 
Scotland, in 1630 ; educated at the university of Edin- 
burgh and St. Andrews, under the care of the godly 
Rutherford ; called at the age of twenty-two to min- 
ister to the church at Cambuslang ; ejected from his 
charge, with nearly four hundred other ministers, by 
the "Glasgow Act "under King Charles II. ; driven 
to wander as a fugitive before his foes ; imprisoned, 
released, guided at last to Holland, and called, after 
the death of Mr. Brown, to the pastoral charge of the 
Scotch church at Rotterdam, where he settled in 1677, 
and fulfilled a faithful and successful ministry, beloved 
by his flock and honored by his heavenly Master. 

The records of his history represent him as emi- 
nent in the ministry of the word of God, a Boanerges 
and a Barnabas combined, whose labors were owned 
of the Lord to the salvation of many. His charitable 
disposition caused him to view with regret the strifes 
and bickerings of Christians, saying, "I am amazed 
to see good men thus tear one another in the dark;" 
and remarking again, "I bless God, in fifteen years 
I have not given any man's credit a thrust behind his 
back ; but when I had grounds to speak well of any 
man, I have done so with faithfulness, and when I 
wanted a subject that way I kept silence.*' 

The life of Fleming was emphatically a life of trust, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 179 

and in all his persecutions his table was spread, even 
in the presence of his enemies ; his cup was tilled, and 
his head anointed with oil ; and he was ready to dis- 
tribute, willing to communicate, rich in "good works; 
and, for the rest, his treasures were laid up in heaven. 

His well-known work on "The Fulfilling of the 
Scripture," his ' -Treatise concerning the way of the 
Holy Ghost's working on the souls of men, especially 
after conversion, in communion between God and 
them," and another in manuscript entitled, "A short 
Index of some of the great appearances of the Lord 
in the dispensation of his providence to his poor ser- 
vants," etc. , which recorded many particular instances 
of the Lord's providential dealings with him, during 
his life, serve to show something of the current of his 
thoughts, and give some tokens of his deep and rich 
experience in the things of God. The following 
instance of his utterance of a prophetic warning and 
its awful fulfillment, is well authenticated by writers 
of reputation and veracity : 

One day, as he was preaching to his congregation 
at Rotterdam, he observed three young men among 
the audience, whose behavior was in the highest degree 
indecorous. The minister, observing that the conduct 
was continued, reproved them therefor, and desired 
that in an assembly gathered for such a purpose, they 
should at least maintain a decent demeanor. This 
gentle admonition seemed rather to increase than 
abate their misbehavior ; and they continued peeling 
oranges, cracking nuts, and distorting their faces at 
the minister. Fleming was hence compelled a second 



180 THE GUIDING HAND. 

time to admonish them ; at which they appeared 
still more enraged than before, persisting in their 
conduct, and manifestly becoming more callous and 
incorrigible. 

o 

The worthy minister seemed so impressed and 
shocked at their hardened behavior, that in the midst 
of the discourse he made a solemn pause, and an 
awful one too — "prophetic of their end." He turned, 
and looked them full in the face for sometime, appar- 
ently with much internal agitation. At length he 
addressed them in the following words, and in a most 
impressive manner and tone : "My young friends, I 
am sorry to be the bearer of such a dreadfully alarming 
message to you, and I have begged the Lord to excuse 
me from it, but he will not; therefore I must not 
shrink from the painful duty of declaring the awful 
and confirmed impression on my mind. I now tell 
you that you have not a Aveek longer to live in this 
world." 

This dreadful sentence, proceeding from a man, 
somewhat excited the doubtful apprehensions of the 
congregation, who thought it was the ebullition of 

DO' O 

precipitancy and rashness ; and some of his intimate 
friends were of opinion that religion would suffer 
scorn and reproach for it, especially if the prediction 
should not be verified. The minister added, "Let 
the event prove the truth of it ; for I am persuaded 
I was moved by the Spirit of God to say and affirm 
what I did, as prophetic of their end." 

Monday passed, and nothing occurred : but on Tues- 
day one of the young men went on board a vessel to 



THE GUIDING HAND. 181 

prosecute an intended voyage, which was fixed pre- 
vious to this affair; and, in consequence of a violent 
storm tlr.t Lirosc, the .ship was driven on shore, and 
this unhappy youth perished in the tempest. 

On Wednesday another of the young men was con- 
cerned in a quarrel with some person, the issue of 
which was lighting a duel, with swords, wherein t h i 
wretched victim fell. 

On Thursday the only surviving one was suddenly 
taken ill, at which he began to be terrified, as two of 
his sinful companions were already cut off. He then 
was desirous to send for the same minister whom he 
had ridiculed. When Mr. Fleming arrived at his 
house, he asked the young man what he wanted him 
for. The youth begged he would pray for him ; when 
the minister requested to know what he would want 
him to pray for. The supplicant replied, "For my 
life." "That is not in my power to do," rejoined the 
minister, "for I am sure you will die." "Then," 
said the youth, "beg, or pray, for the life of my soul, 
if you please." Fleming so far consented as to kneel 
down by the bed-side, in which posture he remained 
for a considerable time ; but at length he arose, with- 
out having uttered a word. He then addressed the 
young man, saying that he found his lips so closed 
that he could not utter a syllable on his behalf. He 
accordingly took his leave; and soon afterward, this 
last remaining of the three scoffers died in horror and 
despair, accomplishing the prediction of the minister, 
and confirming the declaration of Holy Writ, "He 
that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall 



182 THE GUIDING HAND. 

suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." 
The scoffer may mock at this narration, as did these 
young men at the message of the man of God ; and 
the formal Pharisee, who prays by rote for one thing 
as well as another, may doubt and cavil at such facts 
as these ; but the man of God who, praying always 
in the Holy Ghost, finds himself helped by that 
Spirit which maketh intercession with groanings which 
cannot be uttered, will recognize the fact which his 
own experience has already shown, that there are 
things for which no spiritual Christian can pray, and 
times when supplication is forbidden. Alas for those 
concerning whom God speaks to his servants as he 
spoke to the weeping Jeremiah of old, saying, "Pray 
not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer 
for them, neither make intercession to me, for I will 
not hear thee." Jer. vii. 16. Happy are they in 
whose behalf "the effectual, fervent prayer of a right- 
eous man" still "availeth much." 

Many remarkable prophecies and providences are 
recorded in connection with the name of Robert 
Fleming. "At one time," his biographer relates, 
while journeying in England, "he fell under the York 
coach, the great wheel of which passed over his left 
leg, but with so gentle a pressure, that the limb 
remained unbroken and unhurt. This we shall find 
a truly wonderful escape, if we take into account the 
lumbering weight of the stage-coaches of that period, 
and the slowness of their motion." 

In the summer of 1694, during a visit to London, 
Fleming fell sick with his last illness. The Lord led 



THE GUIDING HAND. 183 

him gently clown the dark valley, and comforted him 
with his rod and staff. At the commencement of 
the disease, which was a fever, he said to those around 
him, "Oh, friends, sickness and death are serious 
things !" Still, however, he did not believe that his 
end was near, but thought he should recover ; and he 
observed to a relative, that if he was appointed to die 
of this disease it would be strange, as the Lord did 
not use to hide from him the things that He did with 
him and his. But the rapid progress of the fever soon 
abated his confidence. To a friend who visited him, 
he said, "What freedom do you find in prayer for me ? 
Seems God to beckon to your petitions? — or does he 
bind you up and leave dark impressions on your mind ? 
In this manner I have often known the way of the 
Lord." The other replied that he was in darkness 
about the matter. "Well," said the sufferer, skilled 
to interpret the slightest intimations of the divine 
Spirit, "I know your mind ; trouble not 3^ourself for 
me ; I think I may say that I have been long above 
the fear of death." His pains increased, but amidst 
his groans and struggles, the tranquility of his soul 
seemed to be untouched; and to every question of 
his anxious friends, his answer was, "I am very well ;" 
or, "I was never better;" or, "I feel no sickness." 
When at length he was so exhausted as to be unable 
to speak, and was unfit for his wonted prayer and 
meditation, he said to those who were beside him, "I 
have not been able, in a manner, to form one serious 
thought, since I was sick, or apply myself unto God : 
he has applied himself unto me ; and one of his 



184 THE GUIDING HAND. 

manifestations was such, as I could have borne no 
more." Two of his sons attended his death-bed, one 
of whom said to him, ' 'Do you know me ?" With an 
affectionate smile he replied, "Yes, yes, dear son, I 
know you." About an hour after, he earnestly 
exclaimed, "Help, help, for the Lord's sake !" — and 
with a few faint breathings expired. This was on the 
25th of July, and in the fifty-eighth year of his age, 
after a short illness of eight clays. 

Of his two sons, Robert rose to eminence, succeed- 
ing his father at Rotterdam, whence he was recalled 
to his native land by the invitation of the Presbyte- 
rian Church at Lothbury, seconded by the personal 
request of King William, who highly prized his coun- 
sels. He is known as the author of a treatise on 
"The Fall of the Papacy," which attracted attention 
and was republished in connection with the political 
convulsions of 1848. He was an honored son of a 
godly sire, an instance of the Lord's mercy to the 
third generation of them that fear him, — his grand- 
father, James Fleming, having been an eminent Scot- 
tish minister, whose first wife, (not the mother of 
Robert,) was the daughter of John Knox, "who never 
feared the face of man," and whose prayers were more 
dreadful to Mary, Queen of Scots, than an army of 
ten thousand men. 

Surely ' ' the secret of the Lord is with them that 
fear him," " and his righteousness unto children's 
children." " Blessed are all they that put their trust 
in him." Ps. xxv. 14; ciii. 17; ii. 12. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 185 

DIVINE RETRIBUTION. 

A young farmer, who lived at Belton, near Epworth, 
in Lincolnshire, about the year 1720, being at break- 
fast in his house, started up, and cried, "I must go 
into the barn!" One asked him, "For what?" He 
said, "I cannot tell ;" and ran away with his knife in 
his hand. The first thing he saw, when he came into 
it, was his father, who had just hanged himself on 
one of the beams. He immediately cut him down, 
took him in his arms, brought him into the house, 
and laid him on a bed. It Avas not long before he 
came to himself. He then looked upon his son, and 
said, "Now God requited me ! Three and twenty 
years ago I cut down my own father, who had hanged 
himself on that very beam !" 



RICHARD BOARDMAN'S DELIVERANCE. 

"I preached," said Richard Boardman, a celebrated 
Methodist preacher who died in 1782, "one evening 
at Mould, in Flintshire, and next morning set out for 
Parkgate. After riding some miles, I asked a man 
if I was on the road to that place. He answered, 
'Yes ; but you will have some sands to go over, and 
unless you ride fast you will be in danger of being 
enclosed by the tide.' It then began to snow to such 
a degree that I could scarcely see a step of my way, 
and my mare being with foal prevented me from rid- 
ing as fast as I otherwise should have done. I got to 



18(3 THE GUIDING HAND. 

the sands, and pursued my journey over them some 
time, l)iit the tide then came in and surrounded me 
on every side, so that I could neither proceed or turn 
back, and to ascend the perpendicular rocks was 
impossible. In this situation I commended my soul 
to God, not having the least expectation of escaping 
death. In a little time I perceived two men run- 
ning down a hill on the other side of the water, and by 
some means they got a boat and came to my relief, 
just as the sea had reached my knees as I sat on my 
saddle. They took me into the boat, the mare swim- 
ming by our side till we reached the land. 

"While we were in the boat one of the men said, 
'Surely, sir, God is with you.' I answered, 'I trust 
he is.' The man replied, 'I know he is ;' and then 
related the following circumstance : 'Last night I 
dreamed that I must go to the top of such a hill. 
When I awoke the dream made such an impression 
on my mind that I could not rest ; I therefore went 
and called upon this man to accompany me. When 
Ave came to the place we saAv nothing more than usual. 
However, I bested him to go with me to another hill 
at a small distance, and there we saw your distressed 
situation.' 

"When Ave got ashore I Avent with my two friends 
to a public house not far distant from Avhere we landed, 
and, as Ave Avere relating the Avonderful providence, 
the landlord said, 'This day month Ave saw a gentle- 
man just in your situation, but before Ave could hasten 
to his relief he plunged into the sea, supposing, as 
Ave concluded, that his horse would sAvim to the shore ; 



THE GUIDING HAXD. 187 

but they both sunk, and were drowned together.' 
"I gave my deliverers all the money I had, which 
T think was about eighteen pence, and tarried all 
night at the hotel. Next morning I was not a little 
embarrassed how to pay my reckoning, for the want 
of. cash, and begged that the landlord would keep a 
pair of silver spurs till I should redeem them ; but 
he answered, 'The Lord bless you, sir, I would not 
take a farthing from you for the world.' After seme 
serious conversation with the friendly people, I bade 
them farewell, and recommenced my journey, rejoic- 
ing in the Lord, and praising him for his great salva- 
tion." 



PKESENTIMENTS. 

In endeavoring to define this strange instinct, im- 
pulse, or whatever it may be called, says a writer in 
the Evangelical Messenger, opinions have had, and still 
have a wide range of difference ; and in attempting to 
account for it, there seems to be no greater concord 
of views. 

Some suppose it to be an impulse from God who 
sees the end from the beginning ; others find a solu- 
tion in the mission of guardian angels ; others, still, 
think that it is a natural gift with some, in which they 
excel their fellows as others do in reference to other 
endowments; while those, usually nowadays re- 
garded as a little superstitious, account for it on the 
ground of a "lucky birthday," or having been born in 
some particular phase of the moon. Of all we have 



188 THE GUIDING HAND. 

ever read or heard on the subject, we cannot say that 
anything like a satisfactory solution has ever come to 
our knowledge. The case of St. Paul on his perilous 
voyage, does not seem to serve as such. It is not 
given as a presentiment by the historian, but as the 
real appearance of "the angel of God," standing by 
him and talking to him. 

Several facts, moreover, are noticeable, which are 
equally difficult of solution. Sometimes the presen- 
timent contemplates the safety, instruction, etc., of 
the one who experiences it, while in other instances 
that of others alone is contemplated. 

And again, one may, through this impression, either 
from personal experience or through the medium of 
another, save his own life, while a number of others 
in the same peril apprehend no danger till the fatal 
moment sweeps them away. 

Such are some of the facts. A solution will not 
be attempted. But here are some instances :— 

A gentleman with whom we are well acquainted, 
purchased a ticket for a point on the railroad fifty 
miles distant. The train arrived on time. He entered 
a coach, and was sitting with a paper in his hand read- 
ing, when the bell sounded the signal — "all aboard." 
The sound to him was that of a funeral bell tolling 
the death of a friend, and involuntarily he arose and 
left the coach as the train moved off. In two hours 
the intelligence came to him that the train had met 
with a frightful accident, and the coach in which he 
had been sitting was buried under the general ruin, 
with no prospect of any one escaping alive from it. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 189 

Another man in Iowa, after dinner left his family 
for the harvest-field, passing by a fountain or spring, 
and filling his jug with fresh water. He had just 
commenced his labors when he suddenly dropped all, 
and said he must go home ; and in doing so, passing 
by the spring again he was just in time to save the 
life of his darling and only child which had followed 
him at a distance, and in endeavoring to "see the 
baby" in the water, had fallen into it. 

The following instances are recorded in Shuber's 
Mirror of Nature : — 

"A gentleman, an acquaintance of the celebrated 
French authoress, Mme. Beaumont, Avas about mak- 
ing a pleasure trip on the river with some of his 
friends. Everything was ready, and he was just 
entering the boat, when his sister, a deaf mute, came 
suddenly and most anxiously running along, and seiz- 
ing her brother's arm and coat, tried to keep him 
back ; but finding this unavailable, she threw herself 
at his feet, and taking hold of his knees, expressed, 
by the most imploring gestures, her wish that he 
should desist from ofomo- on the water. Touched by 
the painful, entreating expression in the face and pos- 
ture of the deaf mute, several persons joined in the 
prayers of the poor unfortunate girl, and her brother 
finally yielded to their wishes. It was fortunate for 
him he did so, for the boat had gone but a short dis- 
tance on the water, when a sudden gust of wind cap- 
sized it. Several of the company found a watery 
grave, and he, who could not even swim, would no 
doubt have shared the same fate, if his sister, by some 



190 THE GUIDING HAND. 

divine premonition had not prevented his going. 

"Once, on an evening, a rich and benign farmer 
felt, by some secret impulse, impelled to send some 
articles of food to a poor family in the neighborhood, 
at a late hour. 'Wherefore so late ; cannot this be 
done as well to-morrow?' said those around him. 
'No,' replied he, ' it must be done now.' While insist- 
ing, the worthy farmer did not know what a blessing 
his benevolent action was, just then, to the tenant of 
the poor hut, for there the father, who had to nour- 
ish and sustain the family, had fallen sick ; the mother 
was infirm already, and the children had been crying 
for more than two days — the youngest of whom was 
nearly dead from hunger. Thus the most pressing 
wants were at once removed, and perhaps some lives 
saved. 

"Another gentleman, living near some coal miners 
in Silesia, awoke one night from his sleep with an 
irresistible impression to go clown in his garden. He 
arose, went down; the impulse led him out of the 
back gate of his garden into the fields, where he 
arrived just in time to save the life of a miner, who, 
in climbing up a ladder, missed his footing and fell 
down the shaft into a coal-tub, which his son was at 
that moment winding up, but by the increased weight 
was unable to do so now alone. 

"A venerable clergyman in England once felt, like- 
wise, an unexpected desire to pay, late at night, a 
visit to a friend of his, whom he knew to be of a very 
melancholy turn of mind. Though extremely wearied 
by the cares and labors of the day, the venerable 



THE GUIDING HAND. 191 

gentleman could not resist his secret impulse. So 
he went, and, strange to say, arrived just in time to 
prevent his friend from taking his own life. The 
nightly visit and friendly exhortations had such a 
wholesome eifect on the depressed spirits of his friend, 
that he never again attempted to commit suicide. 

"Professor Buchner, of Marburg, being once in 
very pleasant company, felt a strong desire to go 
home and remove his bed from its old place to another 
corner of his bedroom. He yielded to the impulse. 
Having done so, he felt again at ease, and went back 
to his friends. During the night a large portion of 
the ceiling in the room, just where the bed formerly 
stood, crumbled down, and would no doubt have 
crushed him to death, had the bed not been removed," 



THOMAS HOWNHAM. 

The subject of the following providence was a very 
poor man, who lived in a lone house or hut upon a 
moor, called Barmour-moor, about a mile from Low- 
ick, and two miles from Doddington, in the county 
of Northumberland. He had no means to support a 
wife and two young children save the scanty earnings 
obtained by keeping an ass, on which he used to carry 
coals from Barmour coal-hill to Doddington and 
Wooler ; or by making brooms of the heath, and sell- 
ing them around the country. Yet poor and despised 
as he was, in consequence of his poverty, in my forty 
years' acquaintance with the professing world I have 
scarce met with his equal as a man that lived near to 



192 THE GUIDING HAND. 

God, or one who was favored with more evident 
answers to prayer. My parents then living at a vil- 
lage called Hanging-Hall, about one mile and a half 
from his hut, I had frequent interviews with him, in 
one of which he was very solicitous to know whether 
my father or mother had sent him any unexpected 
relief the night before. I answered him in the nega- 
tive, so far as I knew, at which he seemed to be uneasy. 
I then pressed him to know what relief he had found ; 
and how. After requesting secrecy, unless I should 
hear of it from some other quarter, and if so, he begged 
I would acquaint him, he proceeded to inform me, that 
being disappointed of receiving money for his coals 
the day before, he returned home in the evening, and 
to his pain and distress, found that there was neither 
bread, nor meal, nor anything to supply their place, 
in his house ; that his wife wept sore for the poor 
children, who were both crying until they fell asleep ; 
that he got them to bed, and their mother with them, 
who likewise soon went to sleep, being worn out with 
the sufferings of the children, and her own tender 
feelings. 

Being a fine moonlight night, he went out of the 
house to a retired spot at a little distance, to meditate 
on those remarkable expressions in Heb. iii. 17 — 19. 
Here he continued, as he thought, about an hour and 
a half ; found great liberty and enlargement in prayer, 
and got such a heart-loathing and soul -humbling sight 
of himself, and such interesting views of the grace of 
God, and the love of his adorable Saviour, that though 
he went on purpose to spread his family and temporal 



THE GUIDING HAND. 193 

wants before the Lord, yet having obtained a heart- 
attracting and soul-captivating view of him by faith, 
he was so enamored with his beauty, and so anxious 
to have his heart entirely under his forming hand, 
that all thought about temporals was taken away. 

In a sweet, serene, and composed frame of mind, he 
returned to his house ; when, by the light of the moon 
through the window, he perceived something upon a 
stool or form (for chairs they had none) before the 
bed, and, after viewing it with astonishment, and feel- 
ing it, he found it to be a joint of meat roasted, and 
a loaf of bread, about the size of our half-peck loaves. 
He then went to the door to look- if he could see any 
bod}'; and after using his voice, as well as his eye^, 
and neither perceiving nor hearing any one, he re- 
turned in, awoke his wife, who was still asleep, asked 
a blessing, and then awoke the children, and gave 
them a comfortable repast ; but could give me no fur- 
ther account. I related this extraordinary affair to 
my father and mother, who both heard it with aston- 
ishment but ordered me to keep it a secret as re- 
quested ; and such it would ever have remained, but 
for the following reason : 

A short time after this event I left the country ; 
but on a visit, about twelve years after, at a friend's 
the conversation one evening took a turn about one 
Mr. Stangeways, common!}" called Stranguage, a 
farmer, who lived at Lo wick-High steed, which people 
named ''Pinch-me-near," on account of this miserly 
wretch that dwelt there. I asked what had become 
of his property, as I apprehended that he had never 
7 



194 THE GUIDING HAND. 

done one generous action in his lifetime. An elderly 
woman in the company said I was mistaken ; for she 
could relate one, which was somewhat curious. She 
said that she had lived with him as servant or house- 
keeper ; that about twelve or thirteen years ago, one 
Thursday morning, he ordered her to have a whole 
joint of meat roasted, having given her directions, a 
day or two before, to bake two large loaves of white 
bread. He then went to Wooler market, taking 'a 
bit of bread and cheese in his pocket, as usual. He 
came home in the evening in a very bad humor, and 
went soon to bed. In about two hours he called up 
his man-servant, and ordered him to take one of the 
loaves and the joint of meat, and carry them down 
the moor to Thomas Hownham's and leave them there. 
The man did so, and finding the family asleep, he set 
them at their bedside, and came away. 

The next morning her master called her and the 
man-servant in, and seemed in great agitation of mind. 
He told them that he intended to have invited a Mr. 
John Mool, with two or three more neighboring far- 
mers who were always teasing him for his meanness, 
to sup with him the night before ; that he would not 
invite them in the market-place, as he proposed to 
have taken them by surprise near home, as two or 
three of them passed his house, but a smart shower of 
rain coming on, they rode off, and left him before he 
could get an opportunity ; that going soon to bed h 



e 



did not rest well, fell a-dreaming, and thought he 
saw Hownham's wife and children starving ; that he 
awoke and put off the impression ; that he dreamed 



THE GUIDING HAND. 1\)5 

the second time, and endeavored again to shake it off, 
but that he was altogether overcome with the non- 
sense the third time ; that he believed the devil was 
in him, but that since he was so foolish as to send the 
meat and bread, he could not now help it, and charged 
her and the man never to speak of it, or he would 
turn them away directly. She added that since he 
was dead long ago, she might relate it, as a proof that 
he had done one generous action, though he was grieved 
for it afterwards. This is the fact ; let those that read 
make their own reflections. 

The above striking narrative is well authenticated, 
and Avas published in the Connecticut Magazine for 
April, 1812. It illustrates how easy it is for Him 
who feecleth the ravens, to care for all the needs of 
his people even in the most mysterious ways. 



CAPTAIN BRITWELL'S DEEAM. 

Captain Abner Britwell, an old " down-east " sailor, 
thus relates how life and his ship were saved on one 
occasion, by a miracle of Providence : 

" My employers gave me a ship, and I made two 
successful voyages in her. The third voyage was to 
go to the Pacific. I had a new crew, and after we 
had doubled Cape Horn, I began to fear that a mutiny 
was on foot. It was not long: before I became con- 
vinced that such was not only the fact, but that I had 
some desperate men on board. I had watched until 
I had become assured that the most diabolical plot 
was on foot, but I knew not where to place my hand. 



19G THE GUIDING HAND. 

"One night, while we were off the Chilian coast, 
I dreamed that I was keeping my mate's watch, and 
that I had crawled into the long-boat to get out of 
the way of the rain. While there, I thought three of 
my men came and sat down close by me, and com- 
menced to converse upon the subject of murdering 
their officers, and taking the ship. The names of 
these three w^ere Brant, Cummings, and McDermot. 
They were ill-visaged fellows, and I had suspected 
them from the start. I could hear every word they 
spoke, and my heart beat painfully as they laid bare, 
step by step, the plan they had concocted. They 
were the leaders, and were to have the offices when 
the ship was theirs. On the third night the blow 
was to be struck. We, in the cabin, were to be cut 
down first, and then four of the men, whom they 
dare not trust, were to follow. 

"I started up from my sleep. My heart was 
beating quickly, and a cold sweat was upon my brow. 
The dream still sounded in my ears, and it was some 
moments ere I could realize that I was in my own 
bunk. When I had fairly collected my thoughts, I 
turned out, and went on deck, and by a sort of 
instinctive impulse I walked forward. It was an 
hour past midnight, and the moon was just rising. 
I saw three men sitting upon the heel of a spar top- 
mast — exactly where I had seen these three men 
sitting in my dream — and as I came near I heard the 
words, — 

' ' ' Hush ! here comes one of 'em ! ' spoken by one 
of the number, and then they started up, and went 



THE GUIDING HAND. 197 

to the forecastle. I saw who they were — Brant, 
Cummings, and McDermot — the trio of my dream ! 

" On the following morning, I felt so impressed 
Avith the importance of my dream, that I resolved to 
u act upon it. I told the officers that I suspected the 
source and direction of the mutiny, but I would not 
tell them how I gained the knowledge. Those of 
the men whom I knew I could trust were called upon 
to help me. 

"After dinner I stationed two of my officers at a 
convenient point in the cabin, armed with cords and 
canvas bags. Then I sent my boy on deck to tell 
Brant that I wished to see him. He came down, and 
as his foot touched the cabin floor, a bag was thrown 
over his head, and he was thrown doivn and gagged 
with little trouble. As soon as he was hauled out of 
the way, I sent up for Cummings. He came, and 
was treated in like manner, though we had to 
administer a light tap on the head before we could 
overcome him. 

"I sent for McDermot next, and when he had 
been secured, the rest was easy enough. AVe armed 
ourselves and went on deck. The crew were called 
aft, and I told them of the plot I had discovered. I 
did not tell them that thus far I had only dreamed 
the particulars, but I professed to have certain infor- 
mation. When they found that the ringleaders were 
captured and bound, they begged for mercy, and 
offered to make a full confession, and behave them- 
selves in the future. I trusted them, and they 
revealed to me the whole plot, as the leaders had laid 



198 THE GUIDING HAND. 

it out. It was exactly — ivord for word, and deed 
for deed — as I had dreamed it. Three days after- 
ward Ave reached Valparaiso, and the three mutineers 
were disposed of without much trouble." 



BEGGING BEEAD. 

''David said, ' I have been young and now am old ; 
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his 
seed begging bread.' Well, David did not see what 
I am seeing," said Mrs. H. to her sick daughter, 
somewhat bitterly, as she adjusted her bonnet and 
shawl to go out upon the street. 

It was a sunny morning in the autumn of 1856, 
when this shadow of distrust and want fell upon the 
heart and home of Mrs. H., who then resided in 
Springfield, Massachusetts. 

She had been a widow for ten years, and was well 
advanced in life when her husband died. He had 
been for years a minister of Christ's gospel, and, 
without stated charge or salary, had been active in 
his Master's cause, until death had called him from 
labor to repose, leaving his wife, as so man}' minis- 
ters' wives have been left, without property or earthly 
resources. She had depended upon the exertions of 
her daughter, and this daughter, although in delicate 
health, had for six years cheerfully plied the needle 
for their support in their pleasant, but humble home, 
until she was prostrated by sickness ; not a sickness 
of a few weeks' continuance, but of months and years, 
during which she was unable to do anything. But 



THE GUIDING HAXD. 199 

through all these months and years Mrs. H. had 
found her God a covenant-keeping God. He had 
watched over her, had sent her daily bread; but 
now she was brought into a great strait. Her means 
were exhausted, the last piece of bread was eaten ; it 
was late in autumn, and a long winter with sickness 
and privation seemed to be staring her in the face ; 
and the enemy of souls had so taken advantage of 
these circumstances and presented such powerful 
temptations to her mind, that she was not aware how 
she was questioning the care of her heavenly Father, 
and had for a moment lost sight of the promise that 
her bread should be given her, and her water should 
be sure. 

Looking carefully about her room to see if any 
portion of her morning's work had escaped her notice 
— for her household motto had ever been, " If poor, 
always tidy" — and all things being in order, the 
furniture dusted, the stove polished, the window- 
curtains raised to admit the sunbeams that slanted 
through the branches of the large cotton-wood tree 
oTowino* in the adjoining yard, and casting flickering 
shadows upon the rag carpet which her diligent hands 
had made, — her sick daughter, the only member of 
her family, being made comfortable for the short time 
she expected to be absent, — she yet paused a little, 
turned to glance at the clock which stood upon the 
mantel, — ' ' Half past eleven," said she, " and nothing 
for dinner;" and then turning from the clock she 
gave a long, lingering look at an old-fashioned profile 
which hung beside it, and musingly said : 



200 THE GUTDING HAND. 

"Just as constant as the ticking of that clock, 
were his labors in his Master's vineyard ; just as 
faithfully as that tells the hour, did lie lift his voice 
in his Master's cause." 

Mrs. II. leaned against the mantel as if absorbed 
in thought. Her tall, commanding form was yet 
unbowed by age ; and though more than sixty years 
had robbed her fair face of its youthful beauty, yet 
they had not quenched the light of life and hope 
which glowed upon her countenance. But her face 
now grew sad as she recalled the by-gone years, the 
home of plenty which she had left to share the toils 
and struggles of him whose features were outlined 
before her ; and the thought of the present needs of 
herself and her sick daughter conspired with the 
remembrances of the past, to cast a trace of sadness 
over a face that had often shed sunshine on man}' a 
troubled soul. v 

"I think," said she at last, rousing herself from 

her reverie, "I Avill go to Mrs. B and ask her for 

a piece of bread for our dinner; I have no other way 
to get it ; and she has often told me to call upon her 
if I should be troubled. A new business indeed for 
me !" and the saddened look grew deeper. 

"My father," she continued, "was a righteous 
man, and was called by those who had no religion, 
'St. Paul;' not to make sport of him, but because 
his Christian name was Paul, and they saw a similarity 
of character between the two, and the same firm 
adherence to the truth and love for souls in him as 
in that venerable apostle. Well, here am I, his 



THE GUIDING JIAXD. 201 

youngest child, and am going out to ask for a piece 
of bread. Yes," said the discouraged woman, " I am 
experiencing more than David did in this respect. I 
cannot claim that I am perfect, yet I am trying to 
serve the Lord. ' But my father was a whole-hearted 
Christian, and so was my husband, and I want bread T 

When the poor woman had thus poured out the 
sorrows of her heart, and was drawing on her gloves 
to start upon her painful errand, she heard a gentle 
rap at the door. * 

"There! "said she, "some one has come, and I 
wanted to °*et some bread for dinner ! " but checking 
herself she opened the door, when a young woman 
whom she had seen but a few times, and one who 
ever prefaced her visits to the sick with prayer, 
entered, and said : 

"I have often heard of your daughter's sickness, 
and felt a strong desire to come and see her this 
morning. And I brought a simple gift. I hope you 
will not feel hurt because it is such a common article, 
tor when I tried to select something else my mind 
was unaccountably directed to this" and she hesitat- 
ingly laid upon the table a loaf of bread! 

Mrs. H. felt reproved. But oh, how lovingly 
and gently had her heavenly Father reproved her ! 
She told her visitor why she had on her bonnet and 
shawl, and then said tearfully and reverently, 

"I can now say with David, 'I have been young, 
and note am old; yet have I not seen the righteous 
forsaken, nor his seed begging bread?" 

And that night, as she kneeled by her daughter's 



202 THE GUIDING HAM). 

sick-bed, how earnestly she begged for pardon lor 
that moment of unbelief, and prayed for strength to 
say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in him. " 

It is now about fifteen years since God sent that 
loaf of bread to that widow's humble home ; and in 
all that time, ill many wondrous ways, he has shown 
his care, and his faithfulness has never failed. 

Mrs. H. has since passed from earthly toils, and 
rests in peace and hope ; her daughter yet survives, 
a witness to the mercy of ihe Lord ; and her hand has 
traced this record of her heavenly Father's ever- 
watchful care, in the hope that it may strengthen 
some poor afflicted child of God who knows the lack 
of earthly blessings and enjoyments, and encourage 
those who can minister to the sick and distressed, to 
seek and follow the directions of God's guiding hand 
in dispensing their charities to those who stand in 
need of their assistance. 



A FEABFUL BIDE. 

That "the angel of the Lord encampeth round 
about them that fear him, and delivereth them," is 
not only expressly stated in the word of God, but 
also abundantly shown in the history of his people. 
Nor need we confine ourselves to the sacred records 
in our examination of this subject, for he who walks 
the earth with eyes anointed from on high, will often 
recognize the wondrous working of mysterious powers 
which change the course of human events, and work 
together for good to them that love God. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 203 

Among many strange experiences of an eventful 
life, I recall one which may serve to illustrate this 
subject; and the simple facts in the case, as nearly 
as I can remember them, are now for the first time 
recorded, for the glory of God and the good of those 
Avho may read them. 

In the winter of 1858, when we resided in Roches- 
ter, N. Y., my husband, through exposure in gospel 
labor, suffered an attack of lung fever; and during 
the period of his convalescence he employed himself 
incompleting a little volume, "The Great Contro- 
versy Between God and Man; its Origin, Progress, 
and End," which, having finished, he carried to New 
York and placed in the hands of the printer, and 
remained in the city to superintend its issue. While 
there an open door was set before him ; and in various 
churches, as opportunity was afforded, he testified of 
the gospel of the grace of God, especially in the 
South street church in Brooklyn, where many heard 
the word with joy, and believed on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

The period of his stay being somewhat protracted, 
and the work increasing on his hands, he decided, in 
accordance with the desire of friends there, to send 
for me to come and assist in the labor. Accordiiisrlv" 
on the morning of the 16th of February. I received 
from him a telegram saying, " Come on to New York 
if possible to-night, by the Harlem Boad ;" — the fare 
by that route being somewhat cheaper than by the 
others ; — and fearing that he might have been taken 
with hemorrhage of the lungs, I arranged my house- 



204 THE GUIDING HAND. 

bold affairs, and took the evening train for Albany, 
en route for New York. 

Upon entering the railway carriage I felt a strange 
sensation of uneasiness steal over me. I had often 
travelled alone and without anxiety, and was cour- 
ageous and independent, but I could not dispel a 
dreadful apprehension of approaching danger, which 
hung like a shadow over my mind. I tried to resist 
the feeling, but in vain. All night long, as the train 
thundered over its iron track for more than two 
hundred miles, the fear of coming calamity lay like a 
burden on my thoughts ; — sleep fled from my eyelids ; 
all efforts to feel unconcerned were vain, and I could 
only pray the Lord to spare my life to reach my 
journey's end in peace, and meet my husband once 
more. 

At sunrise we arrived at Albany and I gladly left 
the train, thankful that I was safely there, and pleased 
to feel that all my gloomy fears and fancies were but 
the offspring of disordered nerves, and the results 
of physical exhaustion. But when we crossed the 
Hudson river and entered the Harlem R. R. cars for 
New York, to my astonishment my apprehensions 
returned again with redoubled force, and I felt cer- 
tain that some disaster was about to occur. It seemed 
to me that the train which we were on was destined 
to be smashed to pieces ; and though I tried to per- 
suade myself that it was but an idle whim , the result 
of mere nervous depression, yet no skill of reasoning, 
or force of will could banish the feeling from my mind. 

I occupied a seat near the forward end of the car- 



THE GUIDING HAM). 205 

riage, over the wheels, and, after riding some two 
hours in this state of anxiety and perturbation, I 
thought I heard a voice saying to me, "Put your 
feet up on the seat." I turned to see if any one had 
spoken tome, but no one was sitting near; and I 
started to draw my feet up beneath me on the seat. 
when the thought occurred to me that such a posture 
would look strangely to the other passengers, and I 
stopped. Again the voice seemed to say, "Put 
your feet up on the seat!" and thinking only of the 
strangeness of the suo*£;estion, and how foolish I was 
to yield to such impressions, I said, 4k I will not be 
so nervous," and planted my feet firmly on the floor. 

My apprehensions of danger, however, increased, 
and I could but continue in earnest prayer that God 
would protect me to my journey's end. A few 
moments of suspense thus passed away, and there 
was a sudden report as of an explosion, and a hissing 
roar as of escaping steam ; the train came to a sudden 
stand-still ; the passengers screamed and rushed for 
the door, while I, forgetful that I had ever known a 
fear, sat calmly in my seat, half amused at the sur- 
rounding tumult that filled the car. 

At that moment the conductor entered the car and 
said, " Be calm ; be calm ; there is no one hurt ;" and 
then looking along on the floor as if in search of 
something, he came to where I sat, glanced down 
upon the floor in front of my seat, and looking at me 
with astonishment he inquired, " Are you not fright- 
ened?" "Oh, no," I replied, forgetting to mention 
that I had my part of the fright before. " Well, 



206 THE GUTDING HAND. 

you are one among a thousand," said he. He pointed 
to the floor beneath my feet, A portion of it, some 
eighteen inches square, was stove and splintered up, 
and the pieces of a broken car wheel were visible, 
crowding their way up through the wreck. For the 
first time I then noticed that my feet were drawn up 
beneath me on the seat. How or when they got 
there I never knew. The conductor inquired, " Are 
you hurt?" I replied I was not. He said, "If 
your feet had been down there you might have been 
injured badly;" and turning to a gentleman who 
stood by he remarked, " If we had not discovered 
just at that moment that the boiler was nearly dry, 
and that we were in danger of an explosion, we 
should not have halted, and the train would have 
been all smashed up." 

I had noticed previously an unusual thumping 
beneath my feet, but attributed it to the roll and 
jostle of the wheels ; but it appeared that there was a 
broken car wheel under me, and if that wheel had 
made a dozen revolutions more, I should probably 
have been a torn and mangled corpse, the train would 
have been Avrecked, and this story would never have 
been told. The stopping of the train at that critical 
time, was, I doubt not, the means of saving my life. 

After a delay of two. or three hours, while another 
engine was being procured from Chatham, we pro- 
ceeded to New York, where I found my husband 
waiting for me at the depot ; and we thanked God 
for his preserving mercy to us. 

Years have passed since then. I have travelled in 



THE GUIDING HAND. 207 

safety many thousands of miles, through the favor of 
Him who hath given his angels charge concerning 
his people to keep them in all their ways ; and 
though I have never since experienced such a sense 
of apprehension as haunted me through that fearful 
ride, or such a strange deliverance from impending 
destruction, yet I see no reason to doubt the constant 
presence and kindly care of Him whose mighty hand 
delivered me "from so great a death" when I took 
that fearful ride . Harriet B> Hastings. 



"TAKE CABE OF HIM." 

' ' I was a father to the poor ; and the cause which 
I knew not I searched out." This was the course of 
the patient man, and his example is worthy of our 
imitation. But we are prone to forget our duty in 
the multiplicity of other cares, and sometimes we 
need the guidings of a divine impulse to quicken us 
to diligence and lead us in our way. And when thus 
directed we do well to give heed to the inward voice. 

A Christian woman in New Bedford, Mass., relates 
the following account, which illustrates this subject : 

"In the winter of 1872, while on a visit for a few 
days in company with some friends, I was impressed 
one morning with the remembrance of an Irishman, 
who, some months before, had had the care of our 
horse, and had occasionally brought it to the door 
for me. This was the only acquaintance I had with 
him. With the remembrance of this man, these 
words sounded in my ears, ' Take care of MmS I 



208 THE GUIDING HAND. 

asked my husband if he knew anything about Tom. 
He said he did not; the last time he saw him was, 
perhaps, two months before, when we were riding, 
and he told me Tom had left the stable on account of 
his health. 

" I said to him, ' Something is to be done for him,' 
and asked if he knew whether he was sick, or very 
poor. He said he did not. 'Well,'* I said, 'some- 
thing is the matter, and we must see about it.' He 
told me he did not think the stable-keeper would let 
him suffer ; Tom had worked for him too many years, 
and he guessed he would be taken care of. So I 
was quieted, and so was the spirit within me, until 
I had been at home a day and a half, when at night 
the woman who worked for me by the day, asked me 
if I was willing she should have a glass of my jelly 
to take to Tom. The moment she mentioned Tom, 
it struck me like a thunder-bolt, while the flash of 
the Spirit revealed to me that I had disregarded his 
teachings . 

"I asked the woman what the matter was with Tom ; 
she said he was very sick with consumption, and 
they were very poor, he having a wife and three or 
four children. I told her I was bidden while away 
to care for them, but had neglected it to my condem- 
nation and shame, and bade her to take the jelly or 
anything else there was in the house that would make 
him comfortable, and also a dollar for the sick man, 
it being all the money I had at the time. 

"The next morning was Sunday, and feeling the 
matter still on my mind, I asked my husband if he 



THE GUIDING HAND. 209 

would go, before breakfast, and see what they 
needed. He went, found the man very sick and the 
family very needy, having in the house only what the 
dollar had bought for them in coal and provisions. 
They were made comfortable, but Tom lived only a 
few days to express his unbounded gratitude. 

"Thus I was taught the importance of being 
prompt to obey the manifestations of the Spirit." 

Instances of this general character are by no means 
unusual. Many who read these lines can testif}^ to 
personal experience of a similar nature. Well will 
it be for us if we learn to heed the Spirit's call, and 
"to do good and to communicate forget not, for with 
such sacrifices God is well pleased." 



CAPTAIN YONNT'S DEEAM. 

The tender mercies of the Lord are over all his 
works ; and the limit of divine possibilities is far 
beyond the range of human vision, understanding, or 
prescience. By ways we know not our heavenly 
Father leads the ignorant and blind, and teaches us 
the path in which we should go ; sometimes instructing 
us from his living Word ; sometimes by the intima- 
tions of his providence ; sometimes by the whisper- 
ings of a still, small voice, which struggles for a hear- 
ing amid the noisy tumults of our waking hours ; 
and at other times by the more vivid revelations with 
which he impresses our passive minds in the silence 
of our nightly slumbers. 

A striking instance of the mysterious working of 



210 THE GUIDING HAND. 

God to accomplish his providential deliverances, is 
related by Horace Bushnell, in the fourteenth chap- 
ter of his work on "Nature and the Supernatural, as 
together constituting the One System of God :" 

" As I sat by the fire," says Dr. Bushnell, " one 
stormy November night, in a hotel parlor in the Napa 
Valley, of California, there came in a most venerable 
and benignant-looking person, with his wife, and took 
their seats in the circle. The stranger, as I after- 
ward learned, was Captain Yonnt, a man who came 
over into California, as a trapper, more than forty 
years ago. Here he has lived, apart from the great 
world and its questions, acquiring an immense landed 
estate, and becoming a kind of acknowledged patri- 
arch in the country. His tall, manly person, and his 
gracious, paternal look, as totally unsophisticated in 
the expression as if he had never heard of a philo- 
sophic doubt or question in his life, marked him as 
the true patriarch. The conversation turned, I know 
not how, on spiritism and the modern necromancy, 
and he discovered a degree of inclination to believe 
in the reported mysteries. His wife, a much j^oung- 
er and apparently Christian person, intimated that 
probably he was predisposed to this kind of faith, by 
a very peculiar experience of his own, and evidently 
desired that he might be drawn out by some intelli- 
gent discussion of his queries. 

"At my request, he gave me his story. About six 
or seven years previous, in a mid-winter's night, he 
had a dream, in which he saw what appeared to be a 
company of emigrants, arrested by the snow of the 



THE GUIDING HAND. 211 

mountains, and perishing rapidly by cold and hun- 
ger. He noted the very cast of the scenery, marked 
by a huge perpendicular front of white rock cliff ; 
he saw the men cutting off what appeared to be tree- 
tops, rising out of deep gulfs of snow ; he distin- 
guished the very features of the persons, and the look 
of their particular distress. He woke, profoundly 
impressed with the distinctness and apparent reality 
of his dream. At length he fell asleep, and dreamed 
exactly the same dream again. In the morning he 
could not expel it from his mind. Falling in, short- 
ly, with an old hunter comrade, he told him the story, 
and was only the more deeply impressed, by his rec- 
ognizing, without hesitation, the scenery of the 
dream. This comrade came over the Sierras, by the 
Carson Valley Pass, and declared that a spot in the 
pass ansicered exactly to his description. By this, 
the unsophisticated patriarch was decided. He im- 
mediately collected a company of men, with mules 
and blankets, and all necessary provisions. The 
neighbors were laughing, meantime, at his credulity. 
' No matter,' said he, 'I am able to do this, and I 
will, for I verily believe that the fact is according to 
my dream.' The men were sent into the mountains, 
one hundred and fifty miles distant, directly to the 
Carson Valley Pass ; and there they found the com- 
pany, in exactly the condition of the dream, and 
brought in the remnant alive. 

"A gentleman present said, ' You need have no 
doubt of this ; for we Californians all know the facts, 
and the names of the families brought in, who now 



212 THE GUIDING HAND. 

look upon our venerable friend as a kind of saviour.' 
These names he gave, and the places where they re- 
side, and I found afterwards that the California people 
were ready, everywhere, to second his testimony. 

"No thins: could be more natural than for the £ood- 
hearted patriarch himself to add, that the brightest 
thing; in his life and that which »;ave him greatest 
joy, was his simple faith in that dream. I thought, 
also, I could see in that joy, the glimmer of a true 
Christian love and life, into which, unawares to him- 
self, he had really been entered by that faith. Let 
any one attempt, now, to account for the coincidences 
of that dream by mere natural causalities, and he will 
be glad enough to ease his labor, by the acknowledg- 
ment of a supernatural Providence." 

So much we learn from Dr. Bushnell, but who can 
tell the rest ? Such histories are never fully written ; 
the inside view is only seen by God himself. Who 
knows what prayers went up that night from fathers, 
mothers, wives, and friends, in far-off eastern homes, 
in behalf of those emigrants avIio had set forth upon 
their long and dangerous way ? Who can tell the 
midnight groans and secret sighs of hearts that held 
communion with the Lord, and craved his blessing 
over the absent ones ? And who can tell the uttered 
or unspoken pleadings that arose from that storm- 
beleagured band, who, perishing amid the rigor of 
that awful winter's cold, looked up to God when every 
earthly hope and help had failed? Doubtless, if those 
rescued ones were called to tell their tale, we should 
find in this account not only a story of the wise direc- 



THE GUIDING HAND. 21o 

tion of God's guiding hand, which selected perhaps 
the only man in California who had means to send 
deliverance to these distressed ones, and faith enough 
in the unseen to heed a divine monition, but also a 
most striking record of the wondrous virtue of pre- 
vailing prayer, poured out by souls in sore and deep 
distress. 

.Enough, however, is visible and undeniable in this 
case, to demonstrate the existence of a providential 
Protector, and to encourage men to trust in Him. 



THE SHIPWRECKED CREW. 

Admiral Sir Thomas Williams, the founder of the 
Royal Naval Female School for the education of 
naval officers' daughters, was in the command of a 
ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean. His course brought 
them within sight of the island of Ascension, at that 
time uninhabited, and never visited by any ship except 
for the purpose of collecting turtles, which abound 
on the coast. The island is barely seen on the hor- 
izon, but as Sir Thomas looked at it, he was struck 
with an unaccountable desire to steer towards it. He 
felt how T strange such a visit would appear to his 
crew, and tried to disregard it ; but in vain ! the 
desire of the straightforward and excellent com- 
mander became more and more urgent ; and seeing 
that they were fast leaving the island behind them, 
he told his lieutenant to prepare to " put about ship," 
and steer for Ascension. His lieutenant ventured 
respectfully to remark to Sir Thomas that changing 



214 THE GUIDING HAND. 

their course would greatly delay them ; that just at 
that moment the men were going to their dinner; 
that, at least, some delay might be allowed. But 
these arguments seemed to increase the captain's 
anxiety, and he gave the word of command which is 
never resisted. He saw in the countenances of his 
officers an expression of wonder and even blame, but 
he was obeyed, and the ship was steered toward the 
uninteresting little island. All eyes and spy-glasses 
were immediately fixed upon it, and soon something 
was perceived on the shore. 

"It is white — it is a flag — it must be a signal !" 
were the cries which at intervals broke from the 
excited crew. 

When they neared the shore a painful spectacle 
met their view. Sixteen men, wrecked on that coast 
many days before, and suffering the extremity of 
hunger, had set up a signal, though almost without 
hope of relief. The shipwrecked men were taken on 
board, and the voyage completed. 



DELIVERANCE FEOM DESPAIR. 

The following account, extracted from a volume 
entitled Remarkable Providences, illustrates the won- 
drous ways in which God manifests himself to break 
the snare of the fowler, and deliver the souls that sit 
in darkness, doubting the love of Him who died for 
them, and despairing of that mercy which still ex- 
tends to them with open hand a pardon bought with 
blood : 

During a powerful revival of religion that took 



THE GUIDING HAND. 215 

place many years ago, in Salem county, N. J., there 
was a young woman who was induced by her friends 
to attend the meeting, and becoming deeply affected, 
was persuaded to approach the altar, where, after 
much seeking, with bitter repentance, she was happily 
converted to God. 

This person became very exemplary in her deport- 
ment, and wherever she went, had something to say 
in favor of the blessed treasure she had so recently 
found, she remaining faithful for a number of years. 
She married a deeply pious man, with whom she 
lived happily. In a few years he died, and she, 
being left a widow, and poor, had to struggle hard 
for the support of herself and children ; but at this 
time, when the consolations of religion were the most 
needed, she gave way to a murmuring and repining 
spirit, and became very wicked and unhappy. She 
remained in this state many long years. Effort after 
effort was made to reclaim her, but all apparently in 
vain. 

One of her sons at this time embraced religion, 
and consequently became deeply solicitous for his 
mother's salvation. He prayed and wept, and with 
many entreaties urged her to return to the Shepherd 
and Bishop of souls. To all this her answer was, 
" You need not grieve for me, my son, for my day 
of grace is gone — the Spirit has not striven with me 
for over twenty years; my damnation is sure." At 
this time her health, which had been very good, 
began to decline ; day by day she became weaker and 
weaker, until it was apparent to all that the fell 



216 THE GUIDING HAND. 

destroyer had marked her for his prey. The despair 
that tilled her heart, with the afflictions of her body, 
soon wore her down to almost nothing. Brethren 
came from all directions, by the importunity of her 
son, to pray for her, and point her to Christ, the 
friend of sinners ; but in vain. To all of their solici- 
tations and entreaties her answer was, " Leave me 
alone. I am justly lost. You can do me no good. 
The few moments I have on earth, let me spend in 
peace. Your prayers only torment me." 

Her deeply-affected son now resolved to set aside 
a day to fast and pray for the salvation of his mother ; 
he therefore repaired to a lonely wood, and with 
none but God to see his grief or tears, he fell on his 
knees, and with many entreaties besought the Lord 
Jesus Christ to have mercy upon her soul. After 
continuing this all day, toAvard evening, with his 
face bathed in tears, he fell to the earth, struggling, 
and crying, "I will not let thee go until thou answer 
me." A heavenly calm filled his breast, joy sprung 
up in his heart, and evidence clear and strong was 
given, "Thy prayer is answered, go in peace." 

It was Saturday morning ; I was at work on my 
farm, some fifty miles from the scene I am attempt- 
ing to describe, knowing nothing of this woman, 
when I felt a powerful impression on my mind to 
harness my horse to the carriage, and immediately 
drive to Brother P.'s, who resided thirty-five miles 
from my house, and whom I had not seen for several 
years. I tried to put it off, but my peace of mind 
was gone, and, to get relief, I started. I arrived in 



THE GUIDING HAND. 217 

the evening, stayed over the Sunday, and preached 
twice, intending to return home next morning; but 
being awakened several hours before day, the im- 
pression was renewed to go fifteen miles farther to 
see Brother T., also, whom I had not met for several 
years. I arose at daybreak, and found it raining. 
Resolving to go home, I started; but oh, the horror 
of mind that seized me ! To get relief I turned my 
horse and drove for the brother's. He was not at 
home when I arrived, but soon came, and with joy 
welcomed me. I related to him the circumstances of 
my coming, and said, "Brother T., in the name of 
the Lord, is there anything for me to do here?" 

He solemnly paused, then related to me the case 
of this woman, who lived only a few rods off, telling 
me she was apparently but just alive, and dying in 
sin. Now faith sprung up, and, with strong confi- 
dence, I went to see her. On entering the room, I 
approached the bedside, and beheld the pale and 
emaciated form propped up, coughing almost inces- 
santly, and her son weeping sadly at the foot of the 
bed. She related to me her doleful condition, bes:- 
ging me not to pray, or mention the name of Christ, 
as it filled her with indescribable torment. Lifting 
my heart to God, I sat several minutes in silence, 
only broken by the sobs of her affectionate son, when 
I felt it required of me to reason with her on the sin 
and folly of grieving the Holy Spirit by despairing 
of that mercy that was ready to receive her ; and 
surely the Holy Ghost helped me, for, fixing her 
dying eyes upon me, she appeared to drink in every 



218 THE GUIDING HAND. 

word ; her son and the brother who went with me 
looking on with great interest. 

We fell on our knees, and, after Brother T. had 
prayed, I was drawn out with as much power as I 
ever experienced in prayer, to urge her case at the 
throne of grace. Tears of sympathy fell from my 
eyes, and laying hold on God, I resolved never to 
leave the house until salvation appeared. While 
thus pleading, she sprang up in bed and cried for 
mercy, in language the most affecting I ever heard, 
while tears of penitence rolled down her cheeks. 
Being thus encouraged, we continued pouring out 
our souls unto Him who had promised to hear us, 
when, in a moment, while I had my gaze fixed 
upon her, I saw her countenance change ; heaven 
beamed in her eye, joy sprang up in her heart, and 
" Glory, glory!" and loud hallelujahs pealed from 
her tongue ; while her son, who had so long looked 
for redemption, fell on the floor, and, with rapturous 
songs, blessed the God of Israel, his Saviour. She 
lived in this heavenly frame of mind three weeks, 
and died shouting, '" Glory, glory ! victory, victory !" 

In this way was the prey ' ' delivered from the 
hand of the mighty," and the satanic lies which had 
caused this woman to doubt God's love and despair 
of her own salvation, were chased away before the 
glad tidings of that grace and truth which came by 
Jesus Christ, and which abounds to the salvation of 
the outermost or farthest off, even to the chief of 
sinners, for whom Christ the Saviour died. 



THE GUIDIXG HAND. 219 

PROVISION FOR CALEB. 

The following interesting narrative was published 
in the Annual Baptist Register for 1801-1802, edited 
by Dr. John Rippon; pp. 1097-1099. It was com- 
municated by "J. S.," who heard it from the lips of 
Dr. Samuel Stennett, the son of Dr. Joseph Stennett, 
who was acquainted with the parties and the circum- 
stances of the case. Dr. Joseph Stennett, who was 
also the son of a minister, died in 1712, aged forty- 
nine. He was the author of the well-known hymn, — 

"Another six days 1 work is done ; — " 
and Dr. Samuel Stennett wrote the equally well- 
known hymn, — 

"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, 
And cast a wishful eye — " 

Dr. Joseph Stennett married a lady in Wales, in 
consequence of which he resided there several years ; 
and many of his children were born there. He 
preached with great acceptance to the Baptist congre- 
gation in Abergavenny. There was a poor man 
belonging to that meeting, generally known by the 
name of Caleb. He was a collier and lived among 
the hills between Abergavenny and Hereford. He 
had a wife and several small children ; and walked 
seven or eight miles every Lord's day to hear the 
Doctor, the weather seldom preventing him. He was 
a very pious man ; and his knowledge and understand- 
ing were remarkable, considering the disadvantages 
of his situation and circumstances. The Doctor was 
very partial to him, and pleased with his conversation. 



220 THE GUIDING HAND. 

As before observed, bad weather seldom hindered 
Caleb's attendance on the word ; but there was a 
severe frost one winter, which lasted many weeks, 
and blocked up his way, so that he could not possibly 
pass without danger ; neither could he work for the 
support of himself and family. The Doctor and 
many others were much concerned, lest they should 
perish for want. However, no sooner was the frost 
broken but Caleb appeared again. The Doctor, 
when he was in the pulpit, spied him ; and as soon as 
the service was ended went to him and said, "Oh 
Caleb, how glad I am to see you ! How have you 
done during the severity of the weather?" who cheer- 
fully answered, "Never better in my life. I not 
only had necessaries, but lived upon dainties during 
the whole time, and have some still remaining, which 
will serve us some time to come." The Doctor 
expressed his surprise, and wished to be informed of 
particulars. 

Caleb told him that one night, soon after the com- 
mencement of the frost, they had eaten up all their 
stock, and had not a morsel left for the morning, nor 
any human probability of getting any ; but he found 
his mind quite calm and composed, relying on a prov- 
ident God, who neither wanted power nor means to 
supply his wants ; and he went to prayer with his fam- 
ily, and then to rest, and slept soundly till morning. 
Before he was up, he heard a knock at his door ; he 
went to see who was there, and saw a man standing 
with a horse, loaded, who asked if his name was 
Caleb. He answered in the affirmative ; the man 



THE GUIDING HAND. 221 

desired him to help him to take down the load. Caleh 
asked him what it was. He said, provision. On his 
inquiring who sent it, the man said he believed that 
God had sent it, and he could obtain no other answer. 

When he came to examine the contents, he was 
struck with amazement at the quantity and variety 
of the articles. There was bread, flour, oatmeal, 
butter, cheese, salt meat and fresh, neat's tongue, 
etc., etc., which served them through the frost, and 
left some remaining to that present time. 

The Doctor was much affected with the account, 
and mentioned it in all companies where he went, in 
hopes of finding out the benevolent donor, but in vain ; 
till about two years afterward, he w r ent to visit Dr. 
Talbot, a noted physician of the city of Hereford. 
This Dr. Talbot was a man of good moral character, 
and a very generous disposition, but an infidel in 
principle. His wife was a gracious woman, and a 
member of the Baptist Church in Abergavenny, but 
could not very often attend on account of the distance. 
Dr. Stennett used to o-o and visit her now and 
then; and Dr. Talbot, though a man of no religion 
himself, always received Dr. Stennett with great 
politeness ; and he generally staid a night or two at 
his house when he went. As they were conversing 
very pleasantly one evening, Dr. Stennett, thinking 
it his duty to introduce something that was enter- 
taining and profitable, spoke of the great efficacy of 
prayer, and instanced the circumstance of poor 
Caleb. As he was relating the affair, he observed 
Dr. Talbot smile, and said, — 



222 the Gumr g hand. 

"Caleb ! I shall never forget him as long as I live." 

"What ! did jou know him?" said Dr. Stennett. 

"I had but very little knowledge of him," said Dr. 
Talbot, "but by your description I know he must be 
the same man you mean." 

Then Dr. Stennett was very urgent to hear what 
account Dr. Talbot had to give of him ; upon which 
Dr. Talbot freely related the following circumstance : 

He said that the summer previous to the hard win- 
ter above mentioned, he was riding on horseback f >r 
the benefit of the air, as was his usual custom when 
he had a leisure hour, and he generally chose to ride 
among the hills, it being more pleasant, rural and 
romantic, there being a few farm-houses dispersed 
here and there, and a few little cots. As he was 
riding, he observed a number of people assembled in 
a barn ; his curiosity led him to ride up to the barn- 
door to learn the cause of their assembling, when he 
found to his great surprise that there was a man there 
preaching to a vast number of people. 

He stopped till the service was ended ; and he 
observed that the auditory were very attentive to 
what the preacher delivered ; and one poor man in 
particular, attracted his notice, who, as he had a little 
Bible in his hand, turned to every passage of Scrip- 
ture the minister quoted : he wondered to see how 
ready a man of his appearance was at turning to the 
places ; and he likewise noticed that his Bible was full 
of dog's ears, — that is, the corners of the leaves were 
turned down very thickly. 

When the service was over, he walked his horse 



THE GUIDING HAND. 223 

gently along, in order to observe the people ; and the 
poor man whom he had particularly noticed, happened 
to walk by his side. The Doctor entered into con- 
versation with him, asked many questions concerning 
the meeting and the minister, and found the poor man 
to be more intelligent than he could have expected. 
He inquired also about himself, his employment, his 
family, and his name, which he said was Caleb. After 
the Doctor had satisfied his curiosity, he rode oif, 
and thought no more about him till the great frost 
came on the following winter, when he was one night 
in bed, and he said he could not tell for certain 
whether he was asleep or awake, but thought he heard 
a voice say, " Send provision to Caleb." He was a 
little startled at first, but concluding it to be a dream, 
he endeavored to compose himself to sleep. It was 
not long before he imagined he heard the same words 
repeated, but louder and stronger. Then he awoke 
his wife, who was in a sound sleep, and told her what 
he had heard ; but she persuaded him that it could be 
no other than a dream, and she soon fell asleep again ; 
yet the Doctor's mind was so much impressed that 
he c*mld not sleep but tumbled and tossed about for 
some time. At last he heard the voice so powerful, 
saying, " Get up, and send provision to Caleb," that 
he could resist no longer. 

He got up and called his man, bade him bring his 
horse, and he went to his larder, and stuffed a pair of 
panniers as full as he possibly could, of whatever he 
could find ; and after having assisted the man to load 
the horse, he bade him take that provision to Caleb. 



224 THE GUIDING HAND. 

"Caleb," said the man, "what Caleb, sir?" "I know 
very little of him," said the Doctor, "but his name is 
Caleb; he is a collier, and lives among the hills ; let 
the horse go, and you will be sure to find him," The 
man seemed to be under the same influence as his 
master; which accounts for his telling Caleb, "God 
sent it 9 I believe." 

As for Caleb, he was, no doubt, quite ready to give 
credit to the assertion. 



THE SPEECHLESS ONES. 

While reading a few days since about the speech- 
less guest at the royal marriage-feast, I was reminded 
of some speechless ones with whom I had been ac- 
quainted in days past ; and I thought how much bet- 
ter it is to be speechless with astonishment at the 
divine goodness here, "than to be dumb with despair 
and anguish at the judgment day. 

A friend and relative of the writer, who was "a 
widow indeed," one who trusted in God, and con- 
tinued in supplications and prayers day and night, 
was once brought into circumstances of peculiar stvait- 
ness and trial. She had two daughters, who exerted 
themselves with their needles to earn a livelihood ; 
and at that time they were so busily engaged in trying 
to finish some work that had long been on their hands, 
the}' had neglected to make provision for their ordi- 
nary wants, until they found themselves one winter's 
day, in the midst of a New England snow-storm, 
with food and fuel almost exhausted, at a distance 



THE GUIDING HAM). 225 

from neighbors, and without any means of procuring 
needful sustenance. 

The daughters began to be alarmed, and were full 
of anxiety at the dismal prospect, but the good old 
mother said, "Don't worry, girls, the Lord will pro- 
vide ; we have enough for to-day, and to-morrow may 
be pleasant ;" and in this hope the girls settled down 
again to their labor. 

Another morning came, and with it no sunshine, 
but wind and snow in abundance. The storm still 
raged, but no one came near the house, and all was 
dark and dismal without. Noon came, and the last 
morsel of food was eaten, the wood was almost gone ; 
and there were no tokens of any relief for their neces- 
sities. 

The girls became much distressed, and talked anx- 
iously of their condition, but the good mother said, 
"Don't worry, the Lord will provide." But they 
had heard that story the day before, and they knew 
not the strong foundation upon which that mother's 
trust was built, and could not share the confidence 
she felt. 

"If Ave get anything to-day, the Lord will have to 
bring it himself; for nobody else can get here if they 
try," said one of the daughters, impatiently. But 
the mother said, "Don't worry ;" and so they sat down 
again to their sewing, the daughters to muse upon 
their necessitous condition, and the mother to roll 
her burdens on the Everlasting Arm. 

While this conversation was 2roin£ on, an a^ed ser- 
vant of the Lord, Mr. M., sat at his fireside about a 



226 THE GUIDING HAND. 

mile away, surrounded by every bounty and comfort 
needed to cheer his heart, — save the companion of 
his youth, who had long rested in hope beneath the 
clods of the valley, — with his only daughter sitting by 
his side. For a long time not a word had been spoken, 
and he had seemed lost in silent meditation, till at 
length he said, "Mary, I want you to go and order 
the cattle yoked, and then get me a bag. I must go 
and carry some wood and flour to Sister C." 

"Why, father, it is impossible for you to go ; there 
is no track, and it is all of a mile up there. You 
would almost perish." 

The old man sat in silence a few moments, and 
then said, "Mary, I must go." She knew her father 
too well to suppose that words would detain him, 
and so complied with his wishes. While she held the 
bag for him, she felt perhaps a little uneasiness to see 
the flour so liberally disposed of, and said, "I wish 
you would remember that / want to give a poor 
woman some flour if it ever clears off*." The old man 
understood the intimation, and said, "Mary, give all 
you feel it your duty to, — and when the Lord says 
stop, I will do so." 

Soon all things were ready, and the patient oxen 
took their way to the widow's home, wallowing through 
the drifted snow, and dragging the sled with its load 
of wood and flour. About four o'clock in the after- 
noon the mother had arisen from her work to fix the 
fire, and looking out of the window she saw the oxen 
at the door, and she knew that the Lord had heard 
her cry. She said not a word, — why should she? 



THE GUIDING II AND. 221 

she was not surprised; — but presently a heavy step 
at the threshold caused the daughters to look up with 
astonishment, as Mr. M. strode unceremoniously into 
the room, saying, "The Lord told me, Sister C, that 
3'ou wanted some wood and flour." 

"He told you the truth" said the widow, "audi 
will praise him forever. What think you now, girls ?" 
she continued, as she turned in solemn joy to her 
unbelieving daughters . 

They were speechless ; not a word escaped their 
lips, but they pondered that new revelation of the 
providential mercy of the Lord, until it made upon 
their minds an impression never to be effaced ; and 
long ago they learned to trust in Him who cares for 
the needy in the hour of their distress, and who, from 
his boundless stores, supplies the wants of those who 
trust in him. 

Another instance presents itself to my mind. In 
a humble cottage in Connecticut, two sisters were 
watching over and caring for a much loved brother, 
who for many long months had been upon a bed of 
sickness. At length the younger of them began to 
be discouraged. She was dependent for her clothing 
upon her labor; her shoes were worn out, and how 
should she get another pair, unless she could leave 
the sick-bed and go away from home and work and 
earn some money ? 

"Well," said the mother, "I know you need a pair 
of shoes, but don't worry, the Lord will provide." 

"Do you think that the Lord will come down 
from heaven and buy me a pair of shoes?" said the 



228 THE GUIDING HAND. 

daughter, with an expression of discouragement and 
vexation on her countenance. 

"No," said the mother, "but perhaps he will put 
it into somebody's heart to buy you a pair." 

"Perhaps he will, but I don't believe it" said the 
discouraged girl. 

"Well," said the other sister, who was a little more 
hopeful, "you won't get them any quicker by fret- 
ting, so you might as well be quiet." Thus the sub- 
ject dropped, and the day passed as usual. 

As the shades of evening were gathering, a brother, 
who lived at some distance, and who knew nothing 
of their previous conversation, called to inquire after 
their prosperity. 

After the customary salutations, he said, "You have 
been sick here a long time and I thought I would 
come round and see if I could not do something for 
you ; thought perhaps by this time the girls needed 
something." Then turning to the younger sister, he 
said, "How is it, aren't your shoes worn out?" 

She dropped her eyes, blushed deeply, and perhaps 
a little conscience-smitten, "answered not a word." 
Xo thing was said of the previous conversation, though 
it was not forgotten by those who heard it. 

The brother soon saw for himself enough to satisfy 
him, and said no more but went away. The next 
day two pairs of shoes were sent around to her, and 
with them came to her heart a lesson which she never 
forgot. She lived many years after that, but was 
never heard to murmur in that way again ; and often 
said that the two pairs of shoes taught her to wait, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 229 

hope, and trust, even before she learned implicit con- 
fidence in Him who sendeth blessings on the just and 
on the unjust. The last time the writer heard her 
allude to the occurrence, she said, "I was speechless 
then, but by the grace of God I Avill not be in the 
world to come." She rests in hope of everlasting 
life at the resurrection of the just, and a seat at the 
marriage supper of the Lamb, when Jesus comes to 
reign. And this stoiy is recorded with the desire 
that it may lead some impatient one to wait, and 
hope, and trust, and perhaps be a little more patient 
with these blessed mothers whose hands are so filled 
with cares and burdens, but whose hearts, though 
often Aveighed down with sorrow and grief, are yet 
fixed, trusting in the Lord. 



THE ENGINEERS PKEMONITION. 

The following remarkable instance of deliverance 
from danger by mental impression or premonition, 
was published in the Home Monthly for February, 
1866, and is but another illustration of the care of 
Him whose " tender mercies are over all his works:" 

One of our railroad engineers, some years since, 
was running an express train of ten filled cars. It 
was in the night, and a very dark night too. His 
train was behind time, and he was putting the engine 
to the utmost speed of which it was capable, in order 
to reach a certain point at the proper hour. He was 
running on a straight and level track, and at this 



230 THE GUIDING HAND. 

unusual velocity, when a conviction struck him that" 
lie must stop. 

" A something seemed to tell me," he said, " that 
to go ahead was dangerous, and that I must stop if I 
would save life. I looked back at my train and it 
was all right. I strained my eyes and peered into 
the darkness, and could see no signal of danger, nor 
anything betokening danger, and there, in the day- 
time, I could have seen five miles. I listened to the 
working of my engine, tried the water, looked at 
the scales, and nil was right. I tried to laugh myself 
out of what I then considered a childish fear ; but, like 
Banquo's ghost, it would not down at my bidding, 
but grew stronger in its hold upon me. I thought 
of the ridicule I Avould have heaped upon me if I did 
stop ; but it was all of no avail. The conviction — 
for by this time it had ripened into a conviction — 
that I must stop, grew stronger, and I resolved to 
do so. I shut off, and blew the whistle for brakes 
accordingly. T came to a dead halt, got off, and went 
ahead a little way without saying anything to any- 
body what was the matter. I had a lamp in my 
hand, and had gone but about sixty feet, when I saw 
what convinced me that premonitions are sometimes 
possible, I dropped the lantern from my nerveless 
grasp and sat down on the track utterly unable to 
stand." 

He goes on to tell us that there he found that some 
one had drawn a spike which had long fastened a 
switch rail, and opened a switch which always had 
been kept locked, which led on to a track — only 



THE GUIDING HAND. 231 

about one hundred and fifty feet long — which ter- 
minated iii a stone quarry ! 

"Here it was, wide open, and had I not obeyed 
my premonitory warning, — call it what you will, — 1 
should have run into it, and at the end of the track, 
only about ten rods long, my heavy engine and train, 
moving at the rate of forty-five miles an hour, would 
have come into collision with a solid wall of rock 
eighteen feet high! The consequences, had I done 
so, can neither be imagined nor described, but they 
could by no possibility have been otherwise than 
fatally horrible." 



THE EEPKIEVE. 

Sir Evan Nepean, of the Home Department, relates 
the following- respecting himself. One night, during 
his office as under-secrctary, he felt the most unac- 
countable wakefulness that could be imagined ; he 
was in perfect health, had dined early, and had noth- 
ing whatever on his mind to keep him awake. Still 
he found all attempts to sleep impossible, and from 
eleven, till two in the morning, he never closed an 
eye. At length, weary of this struggle, as the 
summer morning was breaking, he determined to try 
what would be the effect of a walk in the park. There 
he saw nothing but the sleepy sentinels. But in his 
walk, happening to pass the House office several times, 
he thought of letting himself in with his key, though 
without any particular object. The book of entries 
of the day before still lay on the table, and through 



232 THE GUIDING HAND. 

sheer listlessness he opened it. The first thing he saw 
appalled him — "A reprieve to be sent to York for 
the coiners ordered for execution." The execution 
had been ordered for the next day. It struck him 
that he had received no return to his order to send 
the reprieve. He searched the "minutes." He could 
not find it there. In alarm he ivent to the house of 
the chief clerk, avIio lived in Downing street, knocked 
him up, (it was then past three,) and asked him if 
he knew anything of the reprieve being sent. "You 
are scarcely awake," said Sir Evan ; "recollect your- 
self; it must have been sent." 

The clerk said that he now recollected he had sent 
it to the clerk of the crown, whose business it was to 
forward it to York. 

"Good," said Sir Evan, "but have you his receipt 
and certificate that it has gone?" 

"No." 

"Then come with me to his house, we must find 
him if it is early." It was now four, and the clerk 
of the crown lived in Chancery Lane. There was no 
hackney coach to be seen and they almost ran. They 
were just in time. The clerk of the crown had a 
country house, and meaning to have a long holiday, 
he was at that moment stepping into his gig to go to 
his villa. Astonished at this visit of the under-sec- 
retary of state at such an hour, he was still more so 
at his business. 

"Heavens!" cried he, "the reprieve is locked up 
in my desk !" It was brought. Sir Evan sent to the 
post-office for the truest and fleetest express. The 



THE GUTDING HAND. 233 

reprieve reached York next morning just at the 
moment the unhappy men were ascending the cart. 

With Sir Evan Nepean, we fully agree in regarding 
this little narrative as one of the most extraordinary 
that we ever heard. A Ye shall go farther, even, than 
he acknowledged, and say that to us it appears ns 
striking evidence of what we should conceive a supe- 
rior interposition. It is true that no vision appeared, 
nor was any prompting voice audible ; yet the result 
depended upon so long a succession of seeming 
chances, and each of these chances was at once so 
improbable and so necessary, that we are compelled 
to regard the whole matter as of an influence not to 
be attributed to man. If one link of the chain might 
pass for a common occurrence — as, undoubtedly, fits 
of wakefulness will happen without any discoverable 
ground, in the state of either body or mind — still, 
what could be less in the common course of things, 
than that, thus waking, he should take a walk in the 
park at two in the morning? Yet, if he had, like 
others, contented himself with taking a walk in his 
chamber, or enjoying the cool air at his window, not 
one of the succeeding events could have occurred, and 
the men must have been sacrificed. Or if, when he 
took his walk, he had been contented with getting rid 
of the feverishness of the night, and had returned to his 
bed, the chain would have been broken ; for what was 
more out of the natural course of events, than that at 
two o'clock in the morning, the idea should come into 
the head of any man to go into his office, and sit down 
in the lonely rooms of his department, for no purpose 



234 THK GUIDING HAND. 

of business or pleasure, but simply from not know- 
ing what to do with himself? 

Or if, when he had let himself into those solitary 
rooms, the book of entries had not lain on the table, — 
and this we presume to be among the chances, as we 
can scarcely suppose books of this official importance 
to be generally left to their fate among the servants 
and messengers of the office ; — or if the entry, instead 
of being on the first page that opened to his eye, had 
been on any other, even the second, as he never might 
have taken the trouble of turning the page ; or if he 
and the chief clerk had been five minutes later at the 
clerk of the crown's house, and, instead of finding 
him at the moment of getting into his carriage, had 
been compelled to incur the delay of bringing him 
back from the country, all the preceding events would 
have been useless. The people would have died at 
York, for even as it was, there was not a moment to 
spare ; the}' were stopped on the very verge of exe- 
cution. -" 

The remarkable feature of the whole is, that the 
chain might have been snapped at any link, and that 
every link was equally important. In the calculation 
of the probability of any one of these occurrences, a 
mathematician would , find the chances very hard 
against the probability of the whole. If it is asked, 
whether a sufficient ground for this high interposition 
is to be discovered, in saving the lives of a few 
wretched culprits, who, as frequently in such cases, 
possibly returned to their wicked trade as soon as 
they had escaped, and only plunged themselves into 



THE GUIDING HAND. 235 

deeper iniquity ; the answer is, that it is not for us, 
in our ignorance, to mete out the value of a human 
life. 

Nor can Ave tell how many praying fathers, mothers, 
sisters, wives, or friends, were offering up unceasing 
intercessions through that silent night, on behalf of 
those poor criminals. Nor do Ave know how many of 
them, in new-born penitence and faith, looked up to 
God for deliverance when human hope had failed; 
nor yet what purposes of grace and mercy remained 
to be fulfilled in those who were rescued from so 
great a death. Only the facts of deliverance are 
before us, to show the power and wisdom of the 
Guiding Hand. 



THE WIDOW'S PRAYER ANSWERED. 

In the year 1854, while residing in the city of L., 
Mass. , T became acquainted with a Bro. D., who lived 
there, — a humble, faithful, dcA T oted man of Gocl. He 
had a small amount of money which he felt inclined to 
give to the Lord, if he could understand AAdiere he 
would have it bestoAved. He made the matter a sub- 
ject of prayer, telling the Lord to let him know where 
the money should be given, and it should go freely. 

As he was one day walking along the street, he sud- 
denly felt a strong impression of duty to send.a/ once 
live dollars of that money to an old lady up in 
Northern New Hampshire, with whom he had been 
acquainted in former years, though he could not recol- 
lect that he had thought of her before for a long Avhile , 



236 THE GUIDING HAXD. 

and hence was not acquainted with her circumstances 
at that time. 

This lady was eighty years old, and had an invalid 
sister living with her, upwards of seventy. These 
two aged women had lived together for years, and 
maintained themselves by prudence and economy, with 
nothing to depend upon but the blessing of God upon 
their own endeavors, for the supply of their wants. 

He went immediately home, and told his daughter, 
who did his writing for him, to send a letter to this 
lady right away, enclosing live dollars, and tell her 
that it was from the Lord. 

A few days after he received a letter from her — 
which I read at the time — thanking him for the 
money, and filled with praise and gratitude to God 
for his goodness in providing for her in a time of 
great need. She had endeavored to live honestly, and 
made it a principle to meet all her engagements with 
promptness. She had sometime previous to this con- 
tracted a debt of about four dollars and a half, and 
the time assigned for its payment was within two or 
three days of its expiration. If she walked by sight 
she could perceive no visible way of paying this debt 
in the time allowed her. But she had learned to walk 
by faith, and hence she went out into her garden and 
there laid the matter before the Lord, pleading ear- 
nestly his care in providing the amount needed to pay 
this debt according to her promise. 

On reading her letter, it appeared, by a careful 
comparison of its dates and statements with Bro. D.'s 
account of his impression, that at the very time when 



THE GUIDING HAND. 237 

she was in her garden on her knees, earnestly plead- 
ing with God to remember her wants and provide her 
the money to pay this obligation of four dollars and 
a half, Brother D., about a hundred miles distant, 
received a distinct impression of duty to send her five 
dollars of that money which he had devoted to the 
service of the Lord. 

Such unmistakable and particular answers to the 
prayers of God's children, may be surprising to some, 
but is there not a more just ground for surprise that 
any who are acquainted with him, should for one 
moment question his faithful watch-care over the peo- 
ple whom he has chosen by his grace and redeemed 
by the blood of his Son. 



THE BURNING PARSONAGE. 

No class of men at the present day claim to attach 
more value to facts than the votaries of natural 
science. We are glad of it, for the old adage, ci One 
fact is worth a dozen theories," has always com- 
mended itself to us as worthy of acceptance. We 
protest, however, against confining the gathering of 
facts and the reasoning from facts, to the natural 
sciences. We claim that there are facts in morals 
and religion just as easily and as fully verified as the 
facts of the sciences. 

Thousands of families at eventide bow down before 
the Lord and seek divine protection from the unseen 
dangers of the night. Are their prayers answered ? 
The skeptic may deny it, but facts are worth more 



238 THE GUIDING HAND. 

than assertions. We give one out of the thousands 
that can be mentioned. It is from the well-known 
pastor of the Nyack Presbyterian church, New York, 
furnished by him to the Sunday School Times, 
Philadelphia. It is as follows : — 

' ' As we are about to mail this from our delightful 
Nyack Parsonage, so generously enlarged and im- 
proved by our kind congregation, — property, and 
perhaps life has been saved by a most signal answer 
to prayer. We had just come into the study from 
family worship, and this text came into my mind, — 
'The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,' 
— -then a voice seemed to say, ' Go outside of the 
house, and six feet from the corner put } 7 our hand 
upon the weather-boarding.' We did so immediately, 
and found the boards almost too hot for the touch. 
We sent for several neighbors. The fire company 
No. 1, was promptly on hand, and the instant the 
axe went through the boards, a bouquet of flame burst 
forth, but the strong arms at the engine soon deluged 
the burning boards and studding with water, and we 
were saved. The instance is all the more remarkable, 
as no one had detected the slightest trace of fire. 
And now, as the last of the crowd has left the par- 
sonage yard, and the fire bells are no longer heard, 
we are impressed with the series of providences which 
have saved us from awakening in midnight flames 
around our sleeping children. And now, while kind 
friends come in to congratulate us and ask for a 
recital of the story, we declare that more than ever 
we believe in the God of Daniel." 



THE GUIDING HAND. 239 

THE SAVED RAILWAY TRAIN. 

The strange and mysterious agencies by which the 
Lord interposes for the prevention of calamity, and 
the preservation of human life, have often been 
brought to the notice of the reader. The following 
is another instance worthy the attention of the con- 
siderate : 

Sometime in the Autumn of the year 186 — , a great 
political gathering — a Union meeting — was held at 
Mansfield, Ohio, which was attended by many citi- 
zens from a distance, who went thither by rail, over 
the Atlantic and Great Western, and other railroads 
converging to that point ; — the Atlantic and Great 
Western road passing eastward through the state of 
Ohio, and thence into Pennsylvania and ^New York. 

On Monday night a former in Pennsylvania retired 
to rest amid a heavy and protracted storm which 
arose, and dreaming that the high embankment near 
his house, which was built across a chasm some hun- 
dred feet deep, had given way under a passenger 
train, and let it down into the abyss, he sprang from 
his bed, ran to the door, and Avas hastening away to 
render assistance to the passengers, when his wife 
awakened him from his sleep and enquired what was 
the matter. 

He related his startling dream, and returned to his 
bed again, but could sleep but very little during the 
night; and the impression made upon his mind by 
the dream was so deep that he hastened to the chasm 
early next morning, to see what condition it was in. 



240 THE GUIDING HANI). 

On arriving there he found the embankment standing, 
and the road apparently safe, although a torrent of 
water poured and surged through the culvert as 
though it would wash the whole away. 

Tuesday passed, and on Tuesday night the farmer 
retired to rest as usual, but could not sleep. That 
dream haunted him, nor could he rid his mind of the 
thoughts of the dangerous gulf that he had seen. He 
at length arose from his bed and hurried to the spot. 
Imagine his horror, when he found that "the fill" had 
been washed out, leaving nothing but the unsupported 
ties and track across the fearful chasm, while, as he 
listened, he could hear in the distance the thundering 
roar of the approaching train of cars. Clambering 
across the dreadful break, he ran with all his might 
to meet the train, and signalled it to stop. And so 
short was the warning that by the time the engineer 
was able to hold up, the engine was but a few feet 
distant from the brink of the chasm. 

The train was a large one, and was filled with per- 
sons who had been at Mansfield, attending the Union 
meeting there, and who were struck with awe at their 
narrow escape. Had it not been for that startling 
dream of the preceding night, and the strange unrest 
which hurried the farmer from his bed to give them 
the alarm, the train would have plunged down the 
frightful precipice . car on car, crushing the crowded 
mass of humanity into shapelessness and death, amid 
the wreck of the train and the surgings of the swollen 
fiood. The train was saved, the farmer related his 
story, and a handsome pecuniary testimonial told of 



THE GUIDING HAND. 241 

a gratitude to him which words could not convey : 
and it may be hoped that from many a heart arose a 
more devout thanksgiving to Him who preserveth 
our lives from destruction bj r his gracious and mys- 
terious providence, and whose tender mercies are 
over all his works. 

The facts above related are given on the authority 
of the Dayton, Ohio, Journal, to which they were 
communicated hy Mr. Robertson, the mail agent on 
the Atlantic and Great Western railroad, between 
Davtou and Cleveland; — Mr. Robertson having con- 
versed with the former and received the circumstances 
from his own lips. And such inquiry as we have 
since been able to make leads us to credit the account. 



PROVIDENCE ABOVE LAW. 

Providence is a manifestation of God's power and 
care. He is the author of all first principles. Every 
object in nature is impressed with the Maker's seal, 
and each new day repeats the wonders of creation. 
Nor is there an object, be it pebble or pearl, the 
flower-sprinkled meadow beneath or the star-spangled 
vault above, a drop of water or a boundless ocean, 
in which intelligence may not discern, and piety 
adore, the providence of God. 

The laws of God are adapted to general action, 
and are without change. God saw in the material 
creation a demand for certain immutable laws, and 
his wisdom so arranged the code that they have 



242 THE GUIDING HAXD. 

moved onward in harmony with the first design. 
Human and vegetable nature is the same as in the 
past, and will continue to be, thus demanding the 
same laws for its regulation. The penalty of these 
natural laws remains the same as when they received 
validity by the divine sanction. 

But above and beyond the action of general law, 
there seems to be another source of power — another 
code or system, which takes cognizance of affairs 
which are transient and occasional in their character. 
These changing scenes are fragments that come be- 
tween the drawn lines of universal law, and demand 
an especial interposition for their direction. Under 
this peculiar arrangement, God manifests himself in 
individual warnings, premonitions, and deliverances. 

God has foreseen the necessities and demands of 
coming events, and has prepared for their reception. 
He regards the good of his creatures in general. His 
people Israel were suffering as bondmen in Egypt, 
and in the fullness of time he raised up from among 
them a leader just qualified to emancipate them, and 
guide them to the land of promise. There have been 
other men providentially raised up as leaders and 
reformers, just fitted to meet the demands and emer- 
gencies of nations and armies. 

But there are direct interpositions of the Divine 
Hand. A lad was returning from school in a shower, 
and sought shelter in a hollow oak from the falling 
rain. While there he heard a voice saying, "'Come 
away, come away ;" and supposing some person was 
calling, he hastened, and had gone but a short 



TTTE GUIDING HAND. 24;1 

distance before the tree was prostrate by lightning. 
Here the natural, unchangeable laws were at work, 
and the clouds, charged with electricity, were pre- 
paring the deadly bolt, but God then put forth a 
particular care and rescued the helpless from death. 

Two brothers were hundreds of miles distant from 
each other ; on a morning one was impressed that 
the other was dead ; he prepared himself and went to 
his brother's residence to find him a corpse. 

I was fifty miles from my home and in excellent 
spirits, when at once a tremulous, solemn feeling- 
came over me, and I could hardly stand. I informed 
my friends that I had peculiar impressions, and feared 
my family were sick. That evening, while in a 
meeting, a lad brought a letter in which I learned 
that my little boy was very ill. I hastened to my 
home only to see him die. I have never since had 
any such emotions. 

There are unseen powers continually acting, and 
there are mediums of communication between the 
Infinite and finite which to us are mysterious. God 
feeds the starving poor under this order, and rescues 
some helpless mortal from the jaAvs of death. A 
gentleman was going on a certain train, looked at 
his watch and supposed he was in time. The watch 
had stopped for the first time; he was too late, and 
that train was thrown over an embankment and 
nearly all killed. That man is a preacher of the 
gospel and has led thousands to Christ. He that is 
vi.>e and will observe these things shall understand 
the loving-kindness of the Lord. 



244 THE GUIDING HAND. 

"GO TO THE POST-OFFICE." 

"Ill the year 18 — , having a brother living in the 
city of R. , I went to see him. Going to the store 
where he had been at work, I found the firm had 
suspended, and that he was thrown out of employ- 
ment, and had broken up housekeeping; but could 
not ascertain where he was, only that he was board- 
ing somewhere out in the suburbs of the city. I 
searched for him all day, but in vain. 

"It was necessary that I should find him. What 
more to do I knew not except to pray. Finally I 
w T as impressed to write a line and drop it into the 
post-office, and I obeyed the impression, telling him 
if he got it, to meet me at a stated place the next 
morning at ten o'clock. 

"I prayed earnestly that the Lord would cause 
him to go to the post-office so that he might get 1113' 
letter. I felt full of peace, and at rest about the 
matter. The next morning at ten o'clock I went to 
the place appointed for him to meet me, and he soon 
came in. 

"There is nothing in all this that is remarkable, 
says the doubter of special providences, but wait a 
little. As we were walking along the street toward 
his boarding place he said, ' There is something 
strange about my going to the post-office this morn- 
mo*. I hidniy arrangements all made to £0 with a 
party this morning early to the Bay, fishing, but 
when I awoke, I had such an impression to go down 
to the post-office, that I had to forego the pleasure of 



THE GUIDING HAND. 245 

going to the Bay, and went to the office and found 
your letter. Spiritualists' (for he boarded with a 
family of table-tippers) ' would say it was the spirits/ 

" I replied, ' It was the Lord th it impressed you 
in answer to my prayer, for I prayed earnestly for 
the Lord to send you to the post-office this morning ;' 
and although young in years and in religion, I tried 
to give God the praise for his guidance and his grace." 

How many remarkable answers to prayer does the 
humble child of God have, to strengthen his faith and 
encourage his heart to heed the word tint says," Be 
careful for nothing ; but in everything by prayer and 
supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be 
made known unto God." 



CAPTAIN HARRIS. 

" Jehovah -Jireh ; the Lord will provide." 

The truth of the folloAving anecdote may be de- 
pended upon, and as it sIioavs the incessant and 
watchful care of Providence over a chastened heir of 
glory, and that at a time of unfathomable and com- 
plicated distress, it may contribute to encourage some 
of the tried saints of God to confide in him, in their 
journey through this world to a better. 

Captain Harris was taken prisoner in the war 
between England and France, and carried to Dunkirk. 
During his imprisonment he was observed to be much 
depressed in mind, and, in general, very pensive and 
thoughtful. And when an order came from the 
French government to remove the prisoners to Ver- 



246 THE GUIDTNG HAND. 

sailles (a distance of more than two hundred miles 
up the country), his anxiety and perplexity seemed 
to be much increased. Being of a very reserved 
disposition, he kept his troubles to himself. They 
therefore preyed incessantly on his spirits. 

But a morning or two before they marched to 
Versailles, a Frenchman came into the prison, and 
made the following remarkable declaration: '"There 
is some person in this prison in great distress of mind 
for w ant of money. Who it is I know not ; but the 
moment I see him I shall know him, for his person 
and circumstances were so impressed on my mind in 
a dream last night, that I cannot be mistaken !" The 
moment the Frenchman saw Captain H. he said, 
"That's the man!" He immediately asked him if 
he was not distressed for money; and before he 
could receive an answer, he offered to lend him forty 
pounds. Captain H. was struck with wonder and 
amazement, that a stranger, and an enemy, should, 
in a strange land, make such an offer to a man in his 
circumstances. 

He then informed him that he had been very 
unsuccessful, and had encountered many difficulties 
in his last voyage; that he had been taken with 
his ship and cargo, and had lain in that prison for 
some time ; that he had expected remittances from 
England, but had been disappointed. That he 
understood that the prisoners Avere to be removed to 
Versailles ; that all his money was expended except 
fourpence, and that he had expected to die on the 
road for want. The Frenchman then pressed him 



THE GUIDING HAND. 247 

hard to take forty pounds ; but he would only accept 
three guineas, supposing that sum would supply all 
his wants till he received remittances from England. 
Captain H. had feared the Lord from the time that 
he was seven years of age, hut nevertheless was now 
in distress. After the Lord had tried him, however, 
(and he trieth all the righteous) he thus arose for 
his help, and impressed the mind of a stranger and 
an enemy, perhaps a French deist, to have compas- 
sion on him, and that at the very moment when his 
soul was fainting within him. Captain Harris, subse- 
quently, was very successful, and was afterward, says 
the narrator, in opulent circumstances. 



"GO TO EOTTEEDAM." 

In the year 1681, a gentleman who lived near Aber- 
deen, came to town on purpose to ask advice of some 
of the ministers. He told them he had an impression 
continually following him, to go to Rotterdam. They 
asked him, "For what reason?" But he could tell 
none; on which they advised him to stay at home. 
Some time after he came again, and informed them, 
"Either I must go to Rotterdam, or die ; for this im- 
pression follows me clay and night, so that I can neither 
eat, nor drink, nor sleep." They then advised him to 
go. Accordingly he embarked and went to Rotterdam. 

As he was landing, his foot slipped, and he fell into 
the sea. A gentleman who Avas walking on the qua}', 
leaped in and caught hold of him, brought him out, 
and conducted him to an inn. He then procured 



248 THE GUIDING HANI). 

some diy linen for him, and a warm bed, in which he 
slept soundly for several hours. When he awoke, he 
found the gentleman sitting by the bedside, who, 
taking it for granted he would be hungry, had be- 
spoken a dinner, which, to his great satisfaction, was 
immediately served up. The Scotch gentleman desired 
the other to ask a blessing, which he did in such a man- 
ner as quite surprised him. But ho was still more 
surprised, both at the spirit and language in which he 
returned thanks ; and asked him, "Sir, are not you a 
minister?" He answered, 'Tarn; but I was, some 
time since, banished from Scotland." The other re- 
plied, "Sir, I observed, though you behaved quite 
decently, 3011 seemed extremely hungry. Pray, per- 
mit me to ask, how long is it since you took any 
food?" He said, "Eight and forty hours ;" on which 
the Scot started up, and said, "Now I know why God 
sent me to Rotterdam. You shall want for nothing 
any more ; I have enough for us both. ' ' Shortly after, 
the revolution ensued, and he was reinstated in his 
living. 



THE WIDOW'S WOOD. 

The following incident, showing the care of God 
for his trusting children, and his willingness to sup- 
ply their temporal, as well as their spiritual neces- 
sities, is related by a minister of the gospel residing 
in the state of Maine : 

In the year 1832, there lived in the town of Mer- 
cer, Maine, a widow woman named Safford, who was 



THE GUIDING HAND. 249 

left with three children to provide for, and who had 
nothing by which to support them but the labor of 
her own hands, and the providence of her heavenly 
Father. 

Of course she had the ordinary trials and hard- 
ships of poverty to encounter, but her trust was in 
the Father of the fatherless, and the God of widows, 
and she believed that he would so supply their needs 
that they should lack for no good thing. 

In this trust she lived as others lived, and the 
worldling perhaps could see no special care of God 
in her case, but only the ordinary course of events 
as regulated by the general laws of labor and reward. 

But at length winter came with its piercing cold, 
and howling winds, and drifting snow ; and a severe 
storm occurring near the close of the week, accom- 
panied with bitter cold, prevented her securing her 
usual store of supplies, and Sunday morning found 
her with only wood enough to make a single fire. 

That fire was kindled, and burned itself nearly 
out. There was nothing to renew it, and the daugh- 
ter, not knowing where the next would come from, 
asked her mother if they should not bury up the last 
remaining brand in the ashes, and so preserve it for 
a little while. 

The mother said, "Xo ;" and with Bible in hand de- 
clared her trust in the Lord's promises, and her cer- 
tainty that he w^ould supply their needs ; and though 
the children doubtingly queried whether her faith 
was well founded, she still trusted in her God. 

On that same Sunday morning, a Christian woman, 



250 THE GUTDING HAND. 

the wife of a Methodist minister, not living far dis- 
tant, entered into her closet to pray and hold com- 
munion with the Lord. As she sought the blessing 
and direction of her heavenly Father, something 
seemed to say to her, "Go and send Jfrs. Safford 
some wood" 

This soemed like a very strange direction — to go 
to drawing wood on Sunday — and so she at once dis- 
missed the thought as a freak of her own imagina- 
tion, and like a pious woman, as she was, sat down 
to read the Bible. Now reading the Bible seems 
like a much more appropriate employment for such 
a day as that, than drawing wood to the neighbors ; 
but when the Lord of Sabbaths, who taught that no 
day was too good to do good in, calls us to care for 
those in need, reading the Bible, and praying, and 
going to meeting, do" not answer the purpose. And 
so the Bible did not seem to read at all good. It 
seemed dark, and dull, and stale, as if it was a 
sealed book, and so she thought she would go away 
and pray again. She did §o ; and again the inward 
monitor seemed to say, "Send Mrs. Safford some 
wood." 

She hesitated no longer, but told the boys to till 
the hand-sled with wood, and drag it through the 
snow to Mrs. Safford's, saying, "I do not know as 
she needs any, but I must send it." 

• Just as the widow's daughters w T ere looking at the 
last consuming brand, and were expressing their 
doubts about their future prospects, while the widow 
was declaring her unshaken confidence in the prom- 



THE GUIDING HAND. 251 

ises and providence of God, the boys came with the 
hand-sled loaded, and cut short the train of argument 
by unloading wood enough to last them till their strait 
was over and wood came again. 

The widow's children learned a lesson of faith in 
God that day ; the mother had another proof of the 
heavenly Father's care, which has preserved her to 
trust in God even until now ; the minister's wife 
learned a lesson of obedience to divine direction ; 
and through this record of the facts, it is hoped that 
the reader will learn to trust the goodness of 
God's providence, and to follow the dictation of his 
Holy Spirit. 



THE IMPERILED CHILD. 

I am no believer in the supernatural. I never saw 
any ghosts ; never heard any strange noises ; none, 
at least, that could not be accounted for on natural 
principles, I never saw lights around the bed or 
heard knocks on the head-board which proved to be 
''forerunners" of sickness or death; I never had 
dreams "come to pass," and to spirits, in the common 
acceptance of the term, since the days of the Fox 
girls, my very presence has been always a damper. 
I am not of that sort who are always on the look-out 
for signs and wonders ; and if want of faith in spirit- 
ualization or supernaturalism is a sin, I ought to have 
been the last one to look for so marked a — you may 
name it what you. please, I call it Divine interposition 
— as the one I am about to relate : all the witnesses 



252 THE GUIDING HAND. 

to which — and they are not a few — are still living. 

One bitter cold day in winter a merry party of us, 
nestled down under furry robes, went to meet an 
appointment with a friend living a few miles distant, 
with whom we were to spend the afternoon, and in 
the evening attend a concert to be held near by. 
The sleighing was delightful, the air keen and inspir- 
iting, the host and hostess genial as the crackling tires 
in the grates, and the invited guests, of wdiom there 
were many besides ourselves, in that peculiar visiting 
trim which only old-time friends, long parted, can 
enjoy. Restraint was thrown aside ; we cracked 
jokes ; we chattered like magpies, and talked not a 
little of the coming concert, which promised a rare 
treat to our unsophisticatd ears. All went merry as 
a marriage bell, and merrier than some, till just before 
tea, when I was seized with a sudden and unaccount- 
able desire to go home, accompanied by a dread or 
fear of something, I knew not what, which made the 
return appear not a matter of choice, but a thing 
imperative. I tried to reason it away; to revive 
anticipations of the concert; I thought of the disap- 
pointment it would be to those who came with me to 
give it up, and running over in my mind the condi- 
tion in which things were left at home, could find no 
ground for alarm . 

For many years a part of the house had been rented 
to a trusty family ; our children were often rocked in 
the same cradle, and half the time ate at the same 
table; locks and bolts Avere things unused, and in 
deed as in word we were neighbors. In their care 



THE GUIDING HAND. 253 

had been left a boy of ten years, the only one of our 
family remaining at home, who knew that when he 
returned from school he w T as expected to bring in 
wood and kindlings for the morning fire, take supper 
alone or with little Clara E., as he chose, and other- 
wise pass the time as he pleased, only that he must 
not go into the street to play or on the pond to 
skate. He had been left many times in this way, and 
had never given occasion for the slightest uneasiness ; 
still, as this nameless fear grew upon me, it took the 
form of a conviction that danger of some sort threat- 
ened this beloved child. 

I was rising to go and ask Mr. A. to take me home, 
when some one said, "You are very pale ; are you 
ill?" 

"No," I answered, and dropping back in the chair, 
told them how strangely I had been exercised for the 
last few minutes, adding, "I really must go home." 

There w T as a perfect chorus of voices against it, and 
for a little time I was silenced, though not convinced. 
Some one laid the matter before Mr. A., who replied, 
"Nonsense ! Eddie is a good boy to mind, would do 
nothing in our absence that he would not do if we 
were there, and is enjoying himself well at this mo- 
ment, I'll warrant." 

This answer was brought to me in triumph, and I 
resolved to do as they said, "not think about it." 
But at tea my trembling hand almost refused to cany 
food to my lips, and I found it utterly impossible to 
swallow a mouthful. A death-like chill crept over 
me, and I knew that every eye was on me, as I left 



254 THE GUIDING HAND. 

the room. Mr. A. rose, saying in a changed voice, 
and without ceremony, "Make haste ; bring the horse 
round ; we must go right away. I never saw her in 
such a state before .; there is something in it." He 
followed me into the parlor, but before he could speak 
I was pleading as for dear life that not a moment be 
lost in starting for home ; "I know," said I, "it is not 
all imagination ; and whether it is or not, I shall cer- 
tainly die if this incubus is not removed shortly." 

All was now confusion ; the tea table deserted, the 
meal scarce tasted ; and my friends, alarmed as much 
at my looks as at my words, were as anxious to hurry 
me off as they had before been to detain me. To me 
those terrible moments seemed hours, yet I am assured 
that not more than half an hour elapsed from the time 
my fears first found expression before we were on the 
road toward home. A horse somewhat noted for 
fleetness was before us, and with only two in the 
cutter — the rest staid to the concert, and made Mr. 
A. promise if nothing had happened he would return 
— we went over the road at a rapid pace. I knew 
from the frequent repetition of a peculiar signal that 
the beast was being urged to his best, yet I grew 
sick with impatience at the restraint. I wanted to 
fly. . All this while my fears had taken no detinite 
shape. I only knew that the child teas in danger, 
and felt impelled to hurry to the rescue. Only once 
was the silence broken in that three-mile journey, 
and that was Avhen, on reaching an eminence from 
which the house was in full view, I said, "Thank God, 
the house isn't on fire !" 



THE GUIDING HAND 255 

6 'That was my own thought/' said Mr. A. ; but there 
was no slackening of speed. * On nearing home a 
cheerful light was glimmering from Mrs. E.\s window. 
Before the vehicle had fairly stopped we were clear 
of it, and opening the door, said, in the same breath, 
-Where's Eddie?" 

-Eddie? why, he was here a little while ago," 
answered Mrs. E., pleasantly, striving to dissipate 
the alarm she saw written on our countenances. -He 
ate supper with the children, and played awhile at 
marbles ; then spoke of Libby Rose's having a new 
picture-book, and that he wanted to see it. You will 
find him over there." 

With swift steps Mr. A. crossed the street to the 
place mentioned, and returned with, -He has not been 
there." Eddie was remarkably fond of skating, and 
my next thought was that he had been tempted to 
disobedience. I said, calmly, -We will go to the 
pond." I was perfectly collected; I could have 
worked all night without fatigue with the nerves in 
that state of tension, but Mr. A. said, -Xo, you must 
go in and lie down. Eddie is safe enough, some- 
Avhere about the village. I'll go and find him." But 
there was nothing in the tone as in the words to re- 
assure me. 

As he spoke he crossed the hall to our own room, 
and turned the knob. The door was locked. What 
could that mean ? Eddie was either on the inside or 
had taken the key away with him. Mr. A. ran round 
to a window with a broken spring, which could be 
opened from the outside. It went up with a clang, 



256 THE GUIDING HAND. 

but a dense volume of smoke drove him back. After 
an instant another attempt was made, and this time, 
on a lounge directly under the window, he stumbled 
on the insensible form of little Eddie, smothered in 
smoke! Limp and apparently lifeless, he was borne 
into the fresh, cold air, and after some rough handling 
was restored to consciousness. 

From that hour I think I have known how Abraham 
felt when he lifted Isaac from the altar unharmed, in 
obedience to the command of the angel of the Lord. 
True, I had been subjected to no such trial of strength 
and faith ; my Father knew I would have shrunk 
utterly before it ; yet, if it was not a similar messen- 
ger that whispered to me in the midst of that gay 
party an hour previous, I have no wish to be con- 
vinced of it ; and were the book placed in my hands 
which I knew had power to rob me of this sweet be- 
lief, I would never open it. 

Eddie said, on returning from school he made a 
good fire, and as the wood was snowy, thought he 
would put it in the oven to dry, — something he had 
never done before. Then, on leaving Mrs. E.\s room, 
he Avent in for an apple before going to see Libby 
Rose's picture-book, and it seemed so nice and warm 
he thought he would lie down awhile, lie could give 
no explanation as to what prompted him to turn the 
key, — it was the first and last time, — but this could 
have made no difference in the result, for no one 
would have discovered the smoke in time to save his 
life. The wood in the stove had burned to ashes, 
but as the doors were closed, there was no danger of 



THE GUIDING HAND. 257 

falling embers setting the house on lire ; and had we 
staid to the concert everything would have been as 
we left it, except that little Eddie's voice would never 
more have made music for our ears. Every one said 
that with a delay of five or even three minutes we 
should have been too late. 

Many years have passed since then, yet now, when 
the lamp of faith burns dim, and God mid his prom- 
ises seem a great way off, I have only to go back to 
this — the first, the last, and only manifestation of this 
nature — to feel that as a father careth for his children, 
so careth he for us. "Deliver us from evil, for thine 
is the power," is no mere formality, but words preg- 
nant with meaning 



&• 



THE DROWNING LADY. 

The direction of the? Holy Spirit of God, resulting 
in the preservation of life and the salvation of souls, 
is seldom more clearly shown than in the following 
incident : — 

A gay lady in New England once had occasion to 
o'o to a neighboring town, where she had often been 
before. In the immediate vicinity was a stream, 
which she had to go near, and which at this period 
was high. With a view of showing her courage to a 
young person whom she had taken with her as a com- 
panion, she went into the stream with her horse, and 
in a very little time was thrown into the water, — had 
already sunk once or twice to the bottom, and felt 

that she was within a few moments of an eternal 
9 



258 THE GUIDING HANI). 

world, without being prepared for so great a change. 

It so happened, that a young man in a neighboring 
town had felt a powerful impression on his mind that 
morning, that he should visit the same place. lie 
had no business to transact ; but, being forcibly im- 
pressed with the importance of going thither, he 
invited a young man to accompany him. Arriving 
at the side of the stream just as the young ladies 
Avere about to cross it, they saw it was improbable 
that they could ford it ; yet, as the ladies went, they 
determined to follow. 

By the time the young lady was thrown from her 
horse, the others had nearly reached the opposite 
shore ; but, perceiving her danger, one of them im- 
mediately followed her on his horse, and in the last 
moment of life, as it then appeared, she caught hold 
of the horse's leg ; he thus secured her, and catching 
hold of the other drowning young lady, she was 
saved also. After the use of proper remedies, they 
recovered; and the young gentlemen, believing that 
the design of their coming from home was now 
answered, returned back. 

The impressions made on the mind of this young 
lady were permanent, and she was led to reflect on 
the sin she had committed against God, to pray for 
the pardon of her guilt, and to devote herself to the 
Divine service. She embraced the mercy of the 
Lord, believing in the Redeemer, who alone saves 
from the wrath to come. 

In the same town with herself lived a young gen- 
tleman who had often spent his hours in vain 



THE GUIDING HAND. 259 

conversation with her. On her return home, he went 
to congratulate her on her escape, and, to his surprise, 
found she attributed her deliverance to the power of 
God, and urged him to seek that grace which they 
had both neglected. Her serious conversation was 
blessed to his coversion, and he became a faithful 
minister of Jesus Christ, and thus two persons were 
saved from drowning, and two sinners redeemed from 
death, by God's good providence and grace. 



THE EXPLOSION. 

" The Lord is my Shepherd, ... he leadeth me," 
said the Psalmist. And especially is this leading of 
the Lord disclosed in the premonitions of danger 
which he often 'bestows upon men, thus delivering 
them from unexpected and imminent perils by means 
incomprehensible to those around them. " He will 
keep the feet of his saints," said the praying Hannah ; 
and thousands can testify that he has watched them 
with an unslumbering eye, and guided them with his 
unerring counsel, and rescued them with an Almighty 
hand. 

And whenever Ave have found ourselves in dark 
and devious and perilous paths, we have but to look 
back and blame ourselves that our eyes were dim, 
our ears heavy, our wills stubborn, and our hearts 
hard ; and that in our blindness and stiff-neckedness 
we rejected the counsel of God to our own disadvan- 
tage. 

A few days since a brother limped into our office, 



260 THE GUIDING- HAND. 

and when inquired of as to the can e of his lameness, 
he stated that a little while before, when visiting a 
vessel in the harbor, as he was passing along in the 
obscurity of one of the decks, he fell through a 
scuttle, down into the hold of the ship, and his foot 
came against a timber with such force as to fracture 
a bone, and hence he had become disabled. 

" Do you think," said the writer, " that you were 
in the place that the Lord wanted you to be in, when 
you fell through that scuttle?" 

"No," said he, "I do not. I felt badly about 
going, and only yielded to the desires of my brother 
who was visiting here, and who wanted me to go. 
But it went hard, and I felt badly about it all the 
time." 

"I thought so," was the reply. "I remember 
going once where I felt I ought not to, some ten 
years ago, and I have not got over the effects of it 
yet, and do not know as I ever shall in this world." 
I had been preaching the gospel at various times, 
in the streets and about the public places in one of 
our large cities, with some appearances of good 
resulting therefrom ; and on one occasion I resolved 
to announce in the public prints that I would conduct 
a service at the usual place the next Sunday after- 
noon. I did so, though I felt a strange misgiving 
and a reluctance or a restraint about making* the 
announcement. The season was far advanced, the 
weather w T as cool, and my health was frail ; but I was 
'• like the horse or the mule, whose mouth must be 
held in with a bit or bridle," and I flattered myself 



THE GUIDING HAND. 261 

that I could endure it ; or, if the weather was unfavor- 
able, I could, as before, enter the open area of a 
public building, and thus avoid exposure, and so I 
disregarded the impression of duty. 

The meeting was accordingly held. The weather 
was chilly, the wind cold and raw, and blowing in 
my face, and the door which I had before found open, 
was by some means locked that day. I therefore 
stood outside and spoke from the steps, contracted a 
cough, which was followed by a lung fever and 
chronic weakness and congestion of the lungs, which 
is a source of trouble and disability to me to this 
day; but which admonishes me from time to time, 
that when a man neglects the guidance of the Spirit 
of God, he does so at his peril, and to his sorrow. 

On the evening of the day upon which the lame 

brother called, another Christian friend, Mr. W , 

an active business man, and an earnest disciple of 
the Lord, entered my office, and spent an hour 
relating some of the instances in his own experience, 
where he had noticed special indications of the 
presence of God's guiding hand. One of these inci- 
dents we desire to place on record, and we give the 
account substantially in his own words : 

i; In the summer of 1854, I was engaged in busi- 
ness in Stockton, California. One day I had come 
down from Stockton to San Francisco, on the steam- 
boat Kate Kearney, and had brought some cases of 
shoes, which were unloaded upon the wharf that they 
might be shipped to Oregon for sale. 

"At the same wharf where we lay, there was 



262 THE GUIDING HAND. 

another steamer, the Helen Hensley, a new boat, 
which lay bow to bow with the Kate Kearney, the 
vessels almost touching each other. The Helen 
Hensley was just getting up steam for a trial trip to 
Sacramento, and when my goods were unloaded I 
went on board of her to see how the new steamboat 
looked. Having passed over the boat, I came down 
from the upper deck to the bow deck, descending by 
a staircase which was located just in front of the 
steam boiler. While passing leisurely down these 
stairs, an earnest voice seemed to say to me, ' Be 
quick/ ' I pulled out my watch, looked at it, thought 
of my business which I had to do, and said to myself, 
w Yes, I must be quick; ' and, as if urged by some 
strange impulse, I hurried down the stairs, hastened 
across the wharf, and rushed into the clerk's office on 
board the Kate Kearney, to settle my freight bill. 

" I had but just entered the office, when there was 
an explosion, a crash which shattered the window- 
glass of the office to fragments around us, and a roar 
of escaping steam which warned myself and the clerk 
to fall prostrate upon the floor, to avoid the danger 
of inhaling the scalding vapor. 

44 In a moment the peril was past, and we had 
time to survey the ruin. The boiler of the Helen 
Hensley had exploded, the wood-work of the vessel 
was rent and shattered, the stairs which I had de- 
scended were blown to fragments, and portions of 
the banisters had been thrown across the wharf with 
such tremendous force that they had been driven 
through the boards of the cases containing the shoes, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 263 

and there remained as tokens of the power which had 

hurled them from their place/' 

Such was the story of. Mr. W , and though 

skeptics, denying the providence of God, might sneer 
at such a record, yet he who has been delivered 
" from so great a death," will give adoring thanks to 
the God of his life, for the unseen guidance which 
was his safety in that hour of peril and desolation. 

Many, very many, are the tacts which illustrate 
the necessity of instant obedience to the call of God. 
A moment's delay here, and destruction would have 
been inevitable. And often upon the turning of a 
corner, the delay or the haste of a moment, hangs 
the whole question of life or death, of ruin or de- 
struction. 

A man saw with ill-concealed regret the steamer on 
which he was to take passage, start from the wharf 
before he could reach it ; but when there came back 
the bitter tidings of a burning vessel and a drowning 
crew, he blessed the hand that had held him back 
from destruction, even against his own desire. 

A gentleman, passing over the New York and Xew 
Haven railroad, courteously arose and gave his seat 
to an older man who was standing near him. The 
train whirled along its iron path with tremendous 
speed, it reached Norwalk, the draw-bridge was open, 
— one awful plunge, the shrieks of the wounded and 
the groans of the dying mingled in dreadful discord, 
— the gentleman escaped unhurt, but the occupant of 
his seat was dead. 

We cannot penetrate the mysteries of Omniscience, 



264 THE GUIDING HAND. 

but he who spares the green and takes the ripe, has 
his reasons for all the events of his providence. Be 
it ours, then, in lowliness and humility to follow the 
guidings of his counsel, and thus escape a thousand 
perils that surround us, fulfill our mission in this 
world, and hear at last his gracious words of welcome 
to that world where obscurity and doubt shall give 
place to perfect knowledge, and where the clouds 
and shadows of the misty present shall vanish in the 
sunshine of the great beyond. 



THE AWAKENED STUDENT. 

The following incident, related by a person con- 
cerned in it, illustrates the watchfulness of our heav- 
enly Father in preserving us in our defenseless hours. 
The narrator says : — 

"In 1845-46, while attending Jefferson College, in 
Pennsylvania, I was boarding in one of the houses 
kept for the accommodation of students, and room- 
ing alone, in the second story, other students occupy- 
ing five or six rooms on the same floor. The stove 
used to heat my room was placed in a corner not far 
from the door, my bed being opposite, and about 
twelve feet distant. 

' ' Just before retiring, one evening, as my custom 
was, I covered up the coal fire with the ashes, and 
immediately laid down to sleep. Sometime during 
the night, — the hour I know not, but quite late, as 
iv\ the students had retired, as well as the family 



THE GUIDING HAND. 265 

occupying the first floor and the basement, — I was 
aroused, got up, unlocked my door, walked three or 
four paces, and opened the door to the garret above, 
when I found the stairway, and the studding and 
lath near it, in flames ! 

"Without making any alarm I quickly returned to 
my room, and taking the water provided for my 
morning ablutions I put out the flames as well as I 
could, and went down stairs for more. Before sleep- 
ing again I satisfied myself that the fire had been 
extinguished, but did not speak of the matter until 
at breakfast, when I related the whole affair to the 
students and others present at the table. They were 
of course much startled at their escape from such 
imminent peril. And they had good reason to be 
seriously impressed with the particular care God 
exercised over that house and the lives therein dur- 
ing that night. 

"It may be that some will say that there is nothing 
strange in this, and that it is no evidence of a special 
providence. I never can persuade myself so to be- 
lieve. Why I awoke just at that moment, being in 
good health, with everything quiet about the house, 
and opened the doors and looked as I did, and thus 
became in God's hands the means of saving property 
and lives from destruction, is only known to Him 
who rules the nations of the earth, and sees when a 
sparrow falls to the ground. It could not have been 
long — judging from the appearances when I opened 
the garret door — before the flames would have com- 
municated with the floor and roof above, and the 



266 THE GUIDING HAND. 

consequences that might have followed are known 
only to Him who caused me to act as I did, and thus 
saved our souls alive. 'Oh that men would praise 
the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful 
works to the children of men ! ' " 



GUIDANCE IN GIVING. 



'■'It is- more blessed to give than to receive," and 
one of the greatest blessings to the trustful child of 
God, is to be used of the Lord for the comfort and 
benefit of others. But in a world of beggary and 
craft and imposition, it requires not only human 
circumspection, but divine guidance to enable us to 
" do good and to communicate " at such times and in 
such directions as shall meet the approval of the 
heavenly Master, and really benefit those with whom 
we have to do. 

And, that this needful direction will not be with- 
held, is evident from the numerous promises of 
divine instruction and direction contained in the 
Book of God, and from abundant instances where 
living witnesses can attest the gracious power and 
presence of the Guiding Hand. 

The morning prayer-meeting in the chapel of the 
Old South church, in Boston, which was continued 
daily for so many years, was not only fraught with 
many fragrant memories of spiritual blessing, and 
tokens of good from the hand of God, but it also 
proved in one instance at least, a place of temporal 



THE GUIDING HANI). 207 

as well as spiritual mercies to the children of the Lord 
who follow the divine counsel with obedient hearts. 

One winter morning, a few years ago, a Mr. Wood- 
man, a man "not slothful in business, fervent in 
spirit, serving the Lord," left his counting-room, a 
short distance away, and repaired to this place, 
" where prayer was wont to be made," to spend the 
appointed hour, from eight to nine o'clock, among 
the humble worshippers. 

While there, he listened with much interest to the 
remarks of a middle-aged gentleman who took part 
in the exercises of the hour, and with whom he was 
entirely unacquainted ; and when he had concluded 
his remarks, Mr. W. felt strongly inclined to go to 
him and give him some money. He wondered at 
the strangeness of the impression ; — the man was 
better dressed than he was himself; there were no 
evidences of want or poverty about him ; the gift 
might be 'uncalled for, abrupt, and unwelcome; — 
arid the query arose, whether, after all, it was not a 
temptation of Satan, rather than an admonition from 
the Lord. The conviction, however, deepened, and 
the command, " Give him five dollars,*' was repeated 
and impressed with such urgency upon his mind that 
he could not resist the inward call. 

Accordingly he leaned his head forward on the 
seat, that he might not be observed by any one, took 
out a five-dollar note, folded it up, and when the 
meeting was over, glided up the aisle, placed the five 
dollars in the hand of the stranger, to be used as he 
saw fit, and hastened away, not waiting for thanks, 



268 THE GUIDING HAND. 

but feeling the inward approval known only to those 
who have "the witness" in themselves. 

The next morning Mr. "W. was again at the prayer- 
meeting, and the same stranger arose and spoke 
substantially as follows : — 

"In days past I have possessed means, and in 
those days I delighted to do good. Many is the five- 
dollar bill that I have given to the poor and the 
distressed. But reverses have overtaken me, and 
though I am provided with food and raiment, yet it 
is a great grief to me that I am unable to do for the 
poor and needy as I formerly could. 

"Yesterday morning, on my way to this meeting, 
I saw a Christian sister in a neighboring town. She 
was sick and poor and friendless, and had neither 
food nor tire in this cold weather ; and I felt in my 
heart, ' Oh, if I only had five dollars to give her, 
how glad I should be !' but I did not have it. But 
1 came here yesterday morning, and at the close of 
the meeting a brother came and put live dollars into 
my hand, to use as I saw tit, and went away. T 
went from this meeting to that poor woman's house, 
gave her the money and told her the Lord sent it to 
her, and she believed he did send it. And if that 
brother is here to-day, I should like to see him and 
speak with him." 

Mr. W. made himself known as he was desired to 
do at the close of the meeting, and they both rejoiced 
in the gracious care of God who had made them 
instruments of blessing to one of his little ones in a 
time of sore distress. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 2(W 

Another instance may be mentioned which is, per- 
haps, equally remarkable as an illustration of divine 
direction. There was a widow lady in Boston whom 
Mr. W. had known for years, and to whose necessi- 
ties he had sometimes been enabled to minister in 
times of sickness and distress. He had, however, lost 
trace of her for some time, till one day he met her in 
the street carrying a fine basket of provisions, and 
said : " Well, I am glad to see that you have some- 
thing good to eat." 

" I only wish it was mine," she replied with a sigh, 
which convinced him that she must be carrying the 
basket for some one else, and that it was an evidence 
of her extreme necessity rather than of abundance ; 
and hastily placing five dollars in her hand, he said, 
" There, I don't see why yon cannot have something 
good to eat, as well as other folks," and passed along, 
and saw nor heard no more from her for months. 

In January, 18G7, he visited the state of Maine on 
business, and a tremendous storm coming on, ho was 
blockaded by snow-drifts, which made roads and 
railways impassable for some time, and was thus 
absent from his business for sixteen days. On his 
return, in the midst of the cares which had accumu- 
lated during his protracted absence, almost the first 
thing in the morning he felt, "I ought to go and see 
that poor woman." But business was pressing, and 
the matter passed from his mind. Again in the 
course of the day the impression came upon him, "I 
must go and see that woman ;" and he ascertained her 
residence, but found no time to visit her. 



270 THE GUIDING HAND. 

At night he started for home, and while passing 
up Pearl street to see a friend, a reproving voice 
within seemed to say, " There, you haven't been to 
see that woman. You must go." It was late, and 
supper was waiting at home ; but the sense of duty 
was too strong to be resisted, and he hastened to the 
widow's lowly tenement. As he entered her poverty- 
stricken abode, she arose from her knees, her face 
covered with tears, and thanked God that he had 
sent her relief. She Avas sick, and starving for food ; 
a salted herring was about the only thing she had in 
the house, and this her disease would not permit her 
to eat. She had been praying for twenty-four hours, 
that the Lord would send some one there to relieve 
her wants, and now her prayer was answered. 

Mr. W. hastened away, and soon returned laden 
with all the necessary comforts of life that he could 
conveniently bring, which he deposited upon her 
table; and having provided for her wants, he went 
his way in peace. It was the last of her troubles 
and privations, for the kind hand of God provided an 
abundant supply for all her needs, and she yet lives 
to rejoice in the mercy of God, who is a father of 
the fatherless and a judge of widows in his holy 
habitation, and to minister to the needs of others in 
distress, and comfort those who are in any trouble 
by the comfort wherewith she herself has been so 
graciously comforted of God. 

These authentic facts, communicated to us by a 
person of veracity, we place on record for the con- 
firmation of the faith of " the poor, and them that 



THE GUIDING HAND. 271 

have no helper," that they may still confide in that 
God who will have respect unto his covenant, and 
who " will not forget the congregation of his poor 
forever ; " and for the quickening of those whom the 
Lord has made stewards of his temporal bounties, 
that they may listen carefully to the voice behind 
them which says, " This is the way, walk ye in it," 
lest they miss the blessing of doing good while here, 
stow cold and dark and covetous amid increasing 
possessions and advancing years, and hear at last 
from the lips of their Judge the awful words, " Inas- 
much as j'e did it not to one of the least of these my 
brethren, ye did it not to me." 



A POOE COTTAGEK. 

A lady who had just sat down to breakfast, had a 
strong impression on her mind that she must instantly 
carry a loaf of bread to a poor man who lived about 
half a mile from her house, by the side of a common. 
Her husband wished her either to postpone taking it 
till after breakfast, or send it by a servant ; but she 
chose to take it immediately herself. As she ap- 
proached the hut she -heard the sound of a human 
voice, and wishing to discover what was said, she 
stepped unperceived to the door. She heard the poor 
man praying, and among other things he said, " O 
Lord, help me : Lord, thou wilt help me ; thy promise 
cannot fail. Although we have no bread to eat, I 
know thou wilt supply me, though thou shouldst again 



272 THE GUIDING HAND. 

rain down manna from heaven." The lady could wait 
no longer, but opened the door. "Yes," she replied, 
' 'God has sent you relief. Take this loaf, and be 
encouraged to cast your care upon Him who careth 
for you ; and whenever you want bread come to my 
house." 



THE FLYING ENGINE. 

Within a few rods of the bank of the Delaware 
river, opposite the city of Trenton, and in the town 
of Morrisville, Pa., there stood, about the middle of 
the present century, a long, two-story wooden block, 
containing four tenements, which were occupied by 
different families. The block of buildings was sit- 
uated some twenty feet northwesterly of the line of 
the great railroad connecting New York with Phila- 
delphia and Washington, and stood at the point 
where the railroad track, curving sharply to the 
eastward, crosses the Delaware to Trenton, on the 
New Jersey shore. 

In one of these tenements, that was nearest to the 
river, resided at this time William Kitson, a humble, 
Christian man, who, with his wife and four children, 
trusted in God and waited for his Son from heaven, 
and shared in the protection of those angels who 
encamp round about the people of God, and deliver 
them in hours of danger and distress. 

On the fifth day of March, 1849, notice was sent 
along the line to clear the track for the passage of a 
train consisting of an engine and its tender, with 



THE GUIDING HAND. 2 To 

only three men on board, — the engineer, fireman, and 
brakeman, — who ran as a government express, to 
bear the inaugural address or message of President 
Zachary Taylor, who had been inducted into office as 
chief magistrate of the United States the preceding 
day. The train was to run very swiftly, and make 
no stops, and all persons were warned to keep out of 
its way. 

The afternoon wore away, and Mr. Kitson and his 
family had just finished their supper and drawn back 
from the table, when a cry was heard, "The express 
is coming!" and the} r hurried out to see it pass. 
Mrs. Kitson with her little girl, went out and stood 
on the steps in front of the house ; her husband stood 
in the doorway with one child in his arms, and 
another standing by his side, while the other boy ran 
to the next door to notify the neighbors of the ap- 
proach of the train. 

On came the fiery, flying chariot, thundering down 
the track, until, as it sped furiously along, and came 
still nearer, suddenly, and when no sign of danger 
appeared, a voice rung through the soul of Mr. 
Kitson, and the single warning word it uttered was, 
"Run!" Startled by it, he began to re-assure him- 
self, saying mentally, " Surely there is no need to 
run," and he stood still and watched the rushing 
engine for a few seconds, when the same warning 
came again, only this time it was louder and more 
thrilling than at first. He was aroused, and a strange 
feeling of fear came over him, but still supposing 
himself and family entirely out of all danger he 



274 THE GUIDING HAND. 

remained transfixed to the spot, impelled, yet not 
persuaded to go. Looking at the living iron, flying 
headlong on its track, and goaded to its utmost speed, 
he now perceived that it had already entered on the 
curve, and so terrible was the strain that a stream of 
fire was flying from its wheels. The machine was 
now but a few rods from the dwelling, almost headed 
toward the gate, but clinging to the curving track. 

■ © 7 © © © 

Then a third time, as if sounded in the air close to. 
his ear, came the mysterious warning, "Run!" It 
seemed like an audible voice. To longer resist its 
command was madness, and he stepped backward 
into the house, with his little boy in his arms. He 
had not gone the width of the room, when the pon- 
derous engine, leaping from the track, struck the 
steps where he had stood, crashed through the door- 
way and the side of the house, tearing the door from 
its hinges, and hurling it behind him close to liia. 
heels. One leap cleared him from the pursuing 
monster, which, with an awful, hissing roar, plunged 
through the floor and landed on the bottom of the 
cellar. 

The danger was past, and Mr. Kitson was safe, 
but where were his family and loved ones? All had 
been imperiled, and yet all were saved. Said Mrs. 
Kitson to a ministering brother, a few days after : 

"When I saw the engine coming, something said 
to me, 'Run!' I said, 'No, I will not run, I will 
stand here and see it pass.' Again something said, 
'Run! ' I said, T won't run.' Once more it sounded 
in my ears with such power that I could not resist it, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 275 

'Run ! ' I then jumped from the steps, threw open 
the gate at the corner of the house leading into the 
yard, and passed through, saying at the same instant 
to the girl, 'Run!' 

"As soon as I had entered "the gate, I turned, 
expecting to see the engine pass upon the track, and 
saw it just behind me, coming towards the gate. It 
came about two thirds the distance from the road to 
the gate, and then made a sudden turn to the left, 
and entered the house." 

The little girl had heeded her mother's cry, and 
had fled and escaped the danger, and Charlie, the 
boy who stood by his father's side in the door, was 
found crowded into a narrow space of about eighteen 
inches wide, between the diagonal path of the engine 
and the front wall of the house, covered with the 
debris of the ruined building, but safe and sound. 

The brakeman of the train was thrown from his 
elevated seat on to a pile of boards, and was severely 
injured ; the engineer leaped from the flying engine, 
as it entered the house, and landed unhurt on the 
steps of the next tenement; while the fireman, stick- 
ing by the engine, was carried into the house amid 
the crash and ruin, but escaped alive with slight 
injuries and scalds. 

Mr. Kitson and family were all safe. But had 
they remained where they stood another instant, all 
would have perished, as the engine struck the house 
in its center, just where they had gathered in fancied 
security to watch its passing. 

The engine was still on the track when Mr. Kitson 



27() THE GUIDING HAND. 

and his wife, moved by a simultaneous impulse, each 
being ignorant of the other's feelings, started to run 
as for their lives, to escape a danger which, though 
imminent, was unseen, and would have been un- 
known had not that mysterious Voice rung its awful 
and imperative warning in their ears to save them 
from the jaws of destruction. The warning was 
timely, and so evidently unearthly as to create a 
life-long impression. There was thanksgiving and 
praise in two souls that night. 

Such were the circumstances attending this terrible 
danger and this wonderful escape, as related in sub- 
stance by Edwin Burnham, the evangelist, in the 
hearing of the writer several years ago, and confirmed 
by Dr. Josiah Litch, who received the story at the 
time from the lips of those who had thus been de- 
livered from death, and immediately published it 
over his signature in the Advent Herald for April 
21, 1849. More recent inquiries confirm the truth 
of the recital, and the persons concerned arc, some 
or all of them, still living to bear witness to its truth. 

This divine deliverance rebukes that scientific in- 
fidelity which leaves destiny to inexorable law, and 
ignores all special interference of God in the affairs 
of men. Why all persons in jeopardy are not simi- 
larly warned, and so permitted to escape, we do not 
know, nor are we required to know to enable us to 
see our way to faith in a higher, redeeming Power. 

One thing Ave do know r , namely, that many persons 
who have disregarded such warnings have done it to 
their sorrow, while those who have heeded them have 



THE GUIDING HAND. 277 

been saved from many ills. It is enough for us to 
know that, many and mighty as are the angels of the 
Most High, they are "all ministering spirits, sent 
forth," not like the messengers of Satan to tip tables 
and talk nonsense under the guise of ghosts, at the 
call, and for the delusion of skeptics and infidels, but 
rather "to minister for them who shall be heirs of 
salvation," over whom God has given them charge 
to keep them in all their ways ; and that in just such 
ways and at such times as pleases God, the angel of 
the Lord who encampeth round about them that fear 
him, "delivereth them." 



HELP IN DISTEESS. 

The following fact is related by a minister in Mary- 
land, who had it from the person concerned : 

"A man in the western part of Maryland was trav- 
eling at night, riding a horse quite wild and unman- 
ageable, and the night was extremely dark. Passing 
through a narrow lane, where a cultivator had been 
left near the fence, the horse struck the handle of the 
cultivator with his foot, became entangled in it, threw 
the rider, and immediately rushed forward, with full 
speed. The man, thrown to the ground, was com- 
pletely stunned by the fall. The horse ran by a 
neighboring house, Avhere the man of the house was 
just preparing to retire to bed. An impression 
came on his mind that some person was in danger, 
and he told his wife that they must go and search for 
the sufferer. He remarked that he could not possibly 



278 THE GUIDING HAND. 

go to bed ; that some one was in danger. Accom- 
panied by his wife and servant, he went out to search, 
and going through the lane, found the rider, who had 
been thrown, Vying senseless upon the ground. They 
raised him up and carried him to the house, where his 
return in 2: consciousness revealed to him that he 
was among strangers, who were taking care of him. 
Ultimately he was restored, but no doubt would have 
perished, had not the man living there been led, by a 
providential impulse, to go out and seek for him. 
Does not an instance like this plainly show the inter- 
posing hand of divine Providence?" 



THE PACKED TEUNK. 

In these days of the poured-out Spirit, says a 
writer in the Home Journal, one needs to speak and 
write cautiously of some of the manifestations. 
Many things not in keeping with taste and reason 
are done ; but may not these very things be in con- 
formity with the direction of the Holy Ghost ? 

The God-given directions of old were not always 
reasonable, judged from a human stand-point. No 
warrior would have walked around Jericho day after 
day with the expectation of thus overcoming a foe ; 
no leper would have believed that a bath in Jordan 
would heal him ; no blind man would have judged 
that there was efficacy in clay-salve to open eyes. 

These very things were, however, of divine order- 
ing. If God could command thus in ages past, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 279 

may he not do the same now ? May he not have a 
David to dance, a Daniel to fall powerless, a Naaman 
to wash in a river, a Moses or a Paul to lay on hands, 
an Ananias to direct to some street called Straight, 
or otherwise? And if God leads thus, need spiritual 
minds he disturbed? If they cannot see the where- 
fore, need it cause a quivering? If a Joshua must 
march around Jericho, need those who stay at hemic 
feel disgust ? If a Paul must lay his hands on the 
head of some disciple, need others revolt? If the 
Spirit tells Ananias to go to Straight street, need it 
be called a new inspiration? And if a Peter prays 
on the house-top, and the Spirit tells him to go below 
stairs to see strangers, need he be reckoned an 
enthusiast and fanatic? Can a reason be given from 
the Word why God may not ask these things of his 
own to-day ? 

In a Boston meeting, a lady said that she had been 
ready to go home for three weeks. Her trunk had 
been packed and waiting ; but fhe Spirit detained 
her in the city, — why, she did not know. At a meet- 
ing a week later in the same place, the leader said, 
"If any one has his trunk packed ready for departure, 
let him go" — discarding spiritual direction in such 
matters. Yet patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, 
and disciples, all had directions, at times, about going 
hither and thither. This lady referred to, learned 
afterwards that her home was closed on account of a 
contagious disease, and had she left when she first 
intended, she would have found her own door shut 
for a limited season against her. 



280 THE GUIDING HAND. 

CAPTAIN FAMING'S DELIVERANCE. 

The following providential deliverance from immi- 
nent danger, is related by Captain Fanning, in the 
volume containing his "Voyages round the World." 
The incident occurred during a voyage in the Pacific, 
after seal-skin fur. Captain Fanning says : — 

"At nine o'clock in the evening, my customary 
hour for retiring, I had, as usual, repaired to my 
berth, enjoying perfectly good health; but between 
the hours of nine and ten, found myself, without 
being sensible of any movement or exertion in get- 
ting there, on the upper steps of the companion-way. 
After exchanging a few words with the commanding 
officer, who was walking the deck, I returned to my 
berth, thinking how strange it was, for I never before 
had walked in my sleep. Again I was occupying the 
same position, to the great surprise of the officer — 
not more so than to myself — after having slept some 
twenty minutes or the like. I was preparing to 
return to the cabin, after answering in the affirmative 
his inquiry, whether Captain Fanning, was well. 
Why I came, or what had thus brought me twice to 
the companion-way, I was quite unable to tell ; but 
lest there should be any portion of vigilance unob- 
served by thooe in charge, I inquired of the officer 
how far he was able to see around the ship. He re- 
plied, that although a little hazy, he thought he could 
see a mile or two, adding that the lookout was regu- 
larly relieved every half hour. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 2*1 

"With a strange sensation upon my mind, I again 
returned to my berth. What was my astonishment 
on finding myself the third time in the same place, 
with this addition : I had now, without being aware 
of it, put on my outer garments and hat! Then I 
conceived some danger was nigh at hand, and deter- 
mined upon laying the ship to for the night. She 
was then under full sail, going at the rate of five or 
six miles per hour. All her light sails were accord- 
ingly taken in, the top-sails were single-reefed, and 
the ship brought to, forthwith, on the wind. I gave 
directions to the officer to tack every hour, and to pass 
the direction to the officer who should relieve him, 
that we might maintain our present position until 
morning ; adding a request that he w.mld call me at 
daylight, as he himself would then be again on watch. 
He was surprised and looked at me with astonishment, 
appearing half to hesitate to obey, supposing me to 
be out of my mind. I observed, I was perfectly well, 
but that something, what it was I could not tell, re- 
quired that these precautionary measures should be 
taken. A few minutes before eleven I asniin re- 
tired and remained undisturbed, enjoying a sound 
sleep until called at daylight by the officer. He 
reported the weather to be much the same as the 
evening previous, with a fine trade-wind from* E. X. 
E. Giving him directions to make all sail, after 
attending to some little duties, I followed to the deck 
just as the sun came above the clear eastern horizon. 

"The officers and watch were busily engaged. All 
was activity and bustle, except with the helmsman. 



282 THE GUIDING HAND. 

Ev^ii the man on the look-out was for a moment 
called from his especial charge, and was engaged in 
reeling and sending" down on deck the steerinof-sail 
halyards. This induced me to walk over to the lee- 
quarter, not expecting, however, to make any dis- 
covery. In a moment the whole truth flashed before 
my eyes, as I caught sight of breakers, mast high, 
directly ahead, and towards which our ship ivas fast 
sailing. 

"The helm was puta-lee, the yards all braced up, 
and sails trimmed by the wind, as the man aloft, in a 
stentorian voice called out, 'Breakers ! breakers 
ahead !' This was a sufficient response to the inquir- 
ing look of the officer, as perceiving the maneuver 
without being aware of the cause, he had gazed upon 
me to find if I was crazed. Casting a look upon the 
foaming breakers, his face, from a flush of red, had 
assumed a death-like paleness. No man spoke. All 
was silence, except the needed orders, which were 
promptly executed with the precision that necessarily 
attends the conduct of an orderly and correct crew in 
a critical emergency. 

' 'The ship was now sailing on the wind, and the roar- 
ing of the breakers under her lee, a mile's short dis- 
tance, was distinctly heard. The officer to whom the 
events of the night were familiar, came aft to me, 
and with the voice and look of a man deeply impressed 
with solemn convictions, said, 'Surely, sir, Prov- 
idence has a care over us, and has kindly directed us 
again on the road of safety. I cannot speak my 
feelings, for it seems to me, after what has passed 



THE GUIDING HAND. 283 

during the night, and now what appears before my 
eyes, as if I had just awakened in another world. 
Why, sir, half an hour's further run from where we 
lay by in the night, would have cast us on that fatal 
spot, where we must all certainly have been lost.' 

"All hands, by this time made acquainted with the 
discovery, and the danger they had so narrowly 
escaped, were gathered on deck, gazing upon the 
breakers with serious and thoughtful countenances. 
We were enabled to weather the breakers on our 
stretch to the north, with a fair view of them from 
aloft. We did not discover a foot of ground, rock 
or sand, above water, where a boat might have been 
hauled up.; of course had our ship run on it in the 
night, there can be no question but we should all 
have perished." 



SONG IN THE NIGHT. 

"If God be for us, who can be against us?" Rom. viii. 31. 
Is God for me? I fear not, though all against me rise ; 
When I call on Christ my Saviour, the host of evil flies ; 
My Friend, the Lord Almighty, and he who loves me, God, 
What enemy shall harm me, though coming as a flood? 
I know it, I believe it, I say it fearlessly, 
That God, the highest, mightiest, forever loveth me. 
At all times, in all places, he standeth at my side ; 
He rules the battle's fury, the tempest, and the tide. 

A Rock that stands forever is Christ my righteousness, 

And there I stand forever in everlasting bliss ; 

No earthly thing is needful to this my life from heaven, 

And naught of love is worthy, save that which God has given ; 

Christ, all my praise and glory, my light most sweet and fair, 

The ship wherein he saileth is scathless everywhere. 

In him I dare be joyful, as a hero in the war ; 

The judgment of the sinner affrighteth me no more. 



284 THE GUIDING HAND. 

There is no condemnation, there is no hell for me, 

The torment and the fire my eyes shall never see ; 

For me there is no sentence, for me has death no sting, 

Because the Lord, who loves me, shall shield me with his wing. 

AbDve my soul's dark waters his Spirit hovers still, 

He guards me from all sorrows, from terror and from ill ; 

In me he works, and blesses the life- seed he has sown, 

From him I learn the " Abba," that prayer of faith alone. 

And if in lonely places, a fearful child, I shrink, 

He prays the prayers within me, I cannot ask or think, — 

The deep unspoken language, known only to that love 

Which fathoms the heart's mystery from the throne of light above. 

His Spirit to my spirit sweet words of comfort saith, 

How God the weak ono strengthens who leans on him in faith ; 

How he hath built a city of love and light and song, 

Where the eye at last beholdeth what the heart hath loved so long. 

And there is mine inheritance, my kingly palace home ; 
The leaf may fall and perish, not less the spring will come ; 
Like wind and rain of winter, are our earthly sighs and tears, 
Till the golden summer dawneth of the endless year of years. 
The Avorlcl may pass and perish ; thou, God, wilt not remove ; 
No hatred of all devils can part me from thy love ; 
No hungering or thirsting, no poverty nor care, 
No wrath of mighty princes, can reach my shelter there : 

No angel and no heaven, no throne nor power nor might, 

No love, no tribulation, no danger, fear, nor fight, 

No height, no depth, no creature that has been or can be, 

Can drive me from thy bosom, can sever me from thee ; 

My heart in joy upleapeth, grief cannot linger there ; 

She singeth high in glory amidst the sunshine fair ; 

The sun that shines upon me is Jesus and his love ; 

The fountain of my singing is deep in heaven above. 

Paul Gerkardt, 1656. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 



CONVERSIONS. 



"The dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give 
light to them that sit ix darkness and ix the shadow 
of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.*" 
Luke i. 78, 79. 

"The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek 
will he teach his way." ps. xxv. 9. 

" When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide 

YOU INTO ALL TRUTH." Jollll Xvi. 13. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 



CONVERSIONS. 



THE CZAR AND THE PSALM. 

When Alexander I., Emperor of Russia, came to 
the throne, few Bibles were found in his empire, and 
great carelessness in reference to religion almost uni- 
versally prevailed. A high place in the church soon 
became vacant, and the emperor appointed his fa- 
vorite prince, Alexander Galitzin, to fill it. He at 
first declined the appointment, on the plea of his 
entire ignorance of religion, but the emperor over- 
ruled the objection as of no weight. Constrained to 
accept the position, the prince on his first interview 
with the venerable archbishop PlatofF, requested him 
to point out some book which would give him a con- 
cise view of the Christian religion, that he might be 
better qualified for his official duties. The archbishop, 
rather surprised at the prince's professed ignorance 
of religion, recommended the Bible. The prince 
said he could not think of reading that book. "Well ," 
replied the archbishop, "that is the only book there 
is, or ever will be, that can give you a correct view 
of the Christian religion." 



288 THE GUIDING HAND. 

"Then I must remain ignorant of it ; reading the 
Bible is out of the question/' was his reply. 

The Words, however, of the venerable Platoff 
remained upon his mind, and lie shortly afterwards 
privately bought and read the Bible. The effects 
were soon visible. He was not known to be a 
"Bible-reader," but his manners were treated with 
contempt. 

In the year 1812, when information reached St. 
Petersburg that Napoleon's armies had entered Mos- 
cow, a general panic came upon the inhabitants, and 
they packed up their valuables to flee to some place 
of security, fully expecting that the French would 
soon march upon the capital. The emperor was also 
preparing to go out Avith a body of troops from the 
city to withstand the invading foe. 

Durino- all this time Prince Galitzin remained calm 
and unconcerned, and had a large number of men 
emplo3 7 ed in repairing his palace, which he continued 
to go on with, notwithstanding the prevailing fear. 
His companions were astonished at his course, and 
some envious persons told the emperor what he was 
doing, and ventured to hint that he might be a traitor, 
who had some secret understanding with the invad- 
ing foe. Alexander sought an interview' with the 
prince, who was glad of an opportunity to acquaint 
the emperor with the foundation upon which his con- 
fidence Avas built. 

"Galitzin," said the emperor, "Avhat are you doing? 
What means all this? every one prepares to flee, and 
you are building !" 



THE GUIDING HAND. v 289 

"Oh," said the prince, "I am here in as sure a place 
of safety as any I could flee to ; the Lord is my 
defense." 

"Whence have you such confidence?" replied the 
emperor. "Who assures you of it?" 

"I feel it in my heart, and it is also stated in this 
divinely inspired volume," answered the prince, 
drawing from his pocket and holding forth a small 
Bible, — a book which the emperor had never seen 
before. He put out his hand to receive it, but by 
some inadvertence it dropped on the floor, opening as 
it fell. The prince raised the sacred volume, glanced 
at the open page, and said, — 

"Well, permit me to read to you in that very 
place at which the Bible lies open before us." 

It was that wonderful passage, the ninety-first 
Psalm : 

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most 
High shall abide under the shadow of the Almight}^. 
I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge, and my 
fortress, my God; in him will I trust. Surely he 
shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and 
from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee 
with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou 
trust ; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night ; nor 
for the arrow that flieth by day ; nor for the pesti- 
lence that walketh in darkness ; nor for the destruc- 
tion that wasteth at noon-day. A thousand shall 
fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand ; 

but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine 
10 



290 THE GUIDING HAND. 

eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the 
wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which 
is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation ; 
there shall no evil befall thee; neither shall any 
plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give 
his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy 
ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest 
thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread 
upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the 
dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 

"Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore 
will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because 
he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, 
and I will answer him ; I will be with him in trouble, 
I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life 
will I satisfy him; and show him my salvation." 

"Oh, that your majesty would seek this retreat !" 
said the prince, as he read the inspiring words./ 

The emperor stood for a while as a man aston- 
ished. His army was at this time marching out of 
the city, and as was customary, he repaired to the 
great church for public worship, — that being the last 
place the emperor visits when leaving the capi- 
tal to be absent any considerable time. Entering 
there, the religious services proceeded, and the offi- 
ciating priest read before the wondering emperor 
the same ninety-first Psalm. After the service he sent 
for the priest, and asked if Galitzin had mentioned 
the circumstances of their interview. The priest 
replied that he had heard nothing of the matter. 

"Who told you to make choice of that particular 



THE GUIDING HAND. 291 

passage this clay?" said th" 1 emperor. The priest 
replied that nobody had done it, but that he had 
desired in prayer that the Lord would direet him to 
the particular portion of the inspired volume he 
should read, to encourage the emperor, and that he 
apprehended that Psalm was the word of the Lord 
to him, 

The emperor proceeded on his way some distance, 
and late in the evening, feeling a great seriousness 
of mind, he sent for his chaplain to read the Bible 
to him in his tent. He came and began to read — 
"He that dwell eth in the secret place of the Most 
High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." 

"Hold," said the emperor. "Who told you to 
read that?" 

"God," said the chaplain. 

"How?" said the emperor. "Has Gralitzin told 
you?" 

He replied that he had not seen the prince, nor 
had any one told him what to read. "Surprised at 
your sending for me," continued the chaplain, "I fell 
upon my knees before God, and besought him to 
teach my weak lips what to speak. I felt that part 
of the holy Word clearly pointed out to me. Why 
your majesty interrupted me I know not." 

The emperor felt astonished at this, and paid the 
greater attention to what was read, believing that 
this must be of the Lord's ordering ; he was therefore 
very solemnly and tenderly impressed, and from that 
time he concluded, morning and evening, to read 
privately a chapter in the Bible. The next day he 



292 THE GUIDING HAND. 

was with the Princess Metchersky, at Tver. They 
agreed to begin the Bible together, regularly to 
read it every day, so that they might both read the 
same portion on the same day, and be able to com- 
municate to one another the particular impressions 
or reflections the reading of the day might have 
produced. 

The world knows what was the end of the French 
invasion of Russia. Moscow was burned by its 
inhabitants, and of Napoleon's mighty army, one 
hundred and twenty-five thousand were slain, one 
hundred and thirty-two thousand died of fatigue, 
hunger, disease, and cold, in their disastrous retreat, 
and one hundred and ninety-three thousand were 
made prisoners; and the expedition, undertaken in a 
haughty contempt of the government and providence 
of God, ended in the downfall of its leader, and the 
overthrow of his mighty hosts. 

As for the emperor, the impressions made upon 
his mind by that psalm were not transient. He took 
Galitzin's Bible, and, to use his own language, "I 
devoured it, finding in it words so suitable to, and 
descriptive of, the s.tate of my mind. The Lord, by 
his divine Spirit, was also pleased to give me an 
understanding of what I read therein ; — it is to this 
inward teacher alone that I am .indebted; — therefore 
I consider divine Inspiration, or the teachings of the 
Spirit of God, as the sure foundation of saving 
knowledge." 

Such Avas his testimony to Stephen Grellet and 
William Allen, two members of the Society of 



THE GUIDING HAND. 293 

Friends, who visited him, while employed in gospel 
labor in St. Petersburg, seven years afterwards, in 
1819. They found him a man of tender heart, and 
at repeated interviews the Czar of all the Russias 
bowed the knee and united in fervent prayer with 
these two lowly men of God, in the presence of Him 
who is higher than kings and mightier than emperors, 
whose throne is in the heavens, and whose kingdom 
ruleth over all. 

Most of the circumstances in this account are re- 
corded by Grellet, in his journal, as received from 
the lips of prince Galitzin himself the day before 
they left St. Petersburg to pursue their journey to 
the regions beyond, whither they went to carry 
tidings of Him who came to bring peace on earth and 
good will toward men. 



A STREAM W THE DESERT. 

I knew a man of God who earned his bread by the 
sweat of his brow. It was impossible to observe 
him and not to feel that he was separated from those 
around him bj r the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. 
He told me in deep humility that he could not "speak 
for the Lord," by which I discovered that he meant 
that he could not accost strangers on the subject of 
their personal salvation. If he could not speak to 
man, he could to God ; and never shall I forget the 
first time I heard his voice raised in supplication and 
prayer at a little wayside gathering. I knew not 
from whom it proceeded, but I felt, whoever it was, 
that soul had power with God. 



294 THE GUIDING HAKB. 

He went to live in a village where none cared for 
anything beyond this present life ; he was a stranger, 
indeed, among them. Early and late he labored in 
the fields, but the Lord of the whole earth had 
ordained a blessing for this dark hamlet when he 
sent his servant there, and a river of the water of 
life was to flow through this solitary man, unseen by 
all save the One that keepeth Israel, and neither 
slumbers nor sleeps. 

Yet the servant of God was not required for this 
ministry to forsake his calling, but to follow the 
Lord in it. He lived in a poor, thatched cottage, on 
the outskirts of the village ; and when his work was 
done, seated by the low casement of his room in 
summer-time, he rested his weary heart in close 
communion with his heavenly Friend. Dispirited 
by intercourse with the profane and the mocker, he 
refreshed himself with new contemplations of the 
covenant of grace, or pondered over the promises 
which he was every day proving for himself were 
priceless treasures for constant use. 

As he communed with God aloud, and poured 
forth his soul in prayer, a woman of ill character 
passed Iry the cottage door. The sound of the 
stranger's voice arrested her steps, and she lingered 
by the casement. She listened. Never before had 
she heard a soul speaking to the God of its life in 
such glad thanksgiving for redemption through the 
blood of the Crucified, or imagined such holy bold- 
ness in approaching a mercy-seat by her unsought : 
it seemed a new language to her ears. The prayer 



THE GUIDING HAND. 295 

ceased. The listener, astonished and perplexed, 
went on her way, and the solitary man, the charge 
of angels, lay down to sleep. None but God saw 
that tiny rill of life that followed a sinner's steps, 
whispering, "Come! and let him that heareth say, 
Come ! and let him that is athirst come ; and whoso- 
ever will, let him take the water of life freely." 

Another day passed. The woman took np her 
station in the twilight to listen, and the freedom 
from condemnation in which the stranger rejoiced, 
seemed to bind her in chains of misery unfelt before. 
Her occupation was a degrading one. She possessed 
a voice of remarkable power and sweetness; her 
husband frequented the public houses in the neigh- 
borhood, and she accompanied him, for he procured 
from the landlord or his guests, the beer or spirits 
that he thirsted for, with the price of his wife's com- 
pany and songs ! 

Day by day the singer marked the man of God, to 
see if his life contradicted in any way his desires 
after holiness, for his prayers set a sign upon him, 
and she watched for his halting week after week, and 
watched in vain. While in many a conflict and in 
hufnble brokenness of spirit this lonely man seemed 
to himself a cumberer of the ground, as far as bring- 
ing any honor to God was concerned, yet through 
him flowed the living stream which should "turn the 
wilderness into a standing water, and the dry ground 
into water-springs." 

The servant of the Lord slept, unconscious of his 
ministry, little dreaming that the words he had 



296 THE GUIDING HAND. 

spoken to the Lord in the silence of that summer 
evening, were disturbing the midnight orgies of sin- 
ners to whom he had never spoken, and who had 
never heard of his existence. The woman's heart 
was heavy, and she could not sing ! She turned 
away in bitterness of spirit from the scene of degra- 
dation in which she had hitherto been contented to 
dwell. The anger of her husband raged against her ; 
his gains were gone, and all the means of procuring 
his evening's wild revelry were over. His persecu- 
tion added to the poor creature's distress, but it was 
as nothing compared to the weight of misery on her 
soul. Heavier and heavier pressed the burden of 
her sins ; the way of escape she knew not ; despair 
took possession of her soul. Satan now thought the 
prey was his own ; he whispered that in "death there 
is no remembrance ;" but the enemy added not, "and 
after death the judgment." 

The heart-stricken woman saw one way only, and 
she determined to rid herself of a life which had 
become intolerable to her. One morning, when she 
thought herself secure from interruption, she went to 
a neighboring stable, and, tying a noose in a rope, 
fastened it securely to a beam in the roof, and pre- 
pared to end an existence too miserable to be borne. 
But ? as her foot was on the edge of the loft from 
which she premeditated casting herself down, the 
praise and thanksgiving of the stranger for redemp- 
tion through the precious blood of Jesus, came flowing 
into her mind. She knelt ; she repeated her prayer 
aorain and ag;ain : such sAveetness came with the 



THE GUIDING HAXD. 297 

words, "Redeemed ! pardoned ! through the precious 
blood of God's dear Son ! " Nor did she pause ; nay, 
she could not. As if the flood-gates of her tears had 
opened the way for prayer, it poured forth in a 
wondrous tide. The sinner wept at the feet of 
Jesus ! The prey was taken from the mighty. Hour 
after hour went by ; she heeded it not, and daylight 
had fallen into evening before her new-born joy 
allowed her to perceive that the day was spent. 

When the servant of the Lord returned to his 
solitary room, it was to find a rejoicing child of the 
faith awaiting him, the fruit of those days that seemed 
of no account, save that he walked in fellowship 
with Jesus. He had lived near the fountain ; the 
stream that flowed in refreshment through his own 
soul, had given life t > the weary one without. 

Year after year, from many a prayer-meeting, arose 
the voice of the rescued minstrel, clear and strong, 
in strains of praise to the Lord and Giver of lite. 
And not alone ; — her husband was by her side, the first 
to give heed to her words, and to believe her witness 
t > the Lord's long-suffering mercy to himself. Heaven 
alone can declare the harvest of that lonely man who 
walked with God. 

The faithful Christian is mighty in unconscious 
power. His soul, as it gravitates towards God, im- 
pressses those with whom he may have to do. The 
silent life, the godly walk, the steadfast faith, the 
single-hearted service of a Christian man, is more 
potent than the strife and babble of man}' a noisy 
tongue that only proclaims the emptiness of the heart 



298 THE GUIDING HAND. 

from which it speaks. And the Christian can be in 
no circumstances however untoward, no position how- 
ever secluded, where God cannot use him for his 
glory. The circle of divine possibilites reaches far 
beyond the stretch of human perceptions. Christ 
"must needs go through Samaria," in his journey to 
Jerusalem, and though the Jews might disapprove 
the act, yet it was a blessed necessity that led the 
Son of God to sit faint and weary by the side of 
Jacob's well in the vale of Sychar, for thus the 
poor water-carrying woman heard the tidings of the 
well of water springing up into everlasting life, and 
thus many of the Samaritans believed. 

So we, in circumstances most unpromising, must 
remember that there is a "need be" for all our "heav- 
iness through manifold temptations ;" that if not useful 
to ourselves our trials may 1)3 profitable to those 
around us ; and Ave may still be unconscious instru- 
ments of blessing to those about us when in our own 
hearts we feel ourselves but cumberers of the ground, 
or weary wanderers in a dark and desert land. In all 
the desert's dreariness, God yet will lead us by his 
cloudy pillar, and guide us by his guiding hand. 



THE LIGHT-COLORED COAT. 

The influence of a right act, done under a divine 
impulse, can never be fully foreseen by man. No 
matter how slight the service, or how trivial the offer- 
ing, the Lord who giveth the increase can cause its 
fruit to abound. Much zealous and bustling" benevo- 



THE GUIDING HAND. 299 

lence does no good, but may be a fruitful source of 
evil, while again some little deed, like Shiloah's 
waters, "that go softly/' carries refreshment and 
mercy to many a weary soul. 

We sometimes hear of maladministration of soci- 
eties, and diversion of benevolent funds to pay the 
salaries of the idle, the incompetent, or the selfish, 
who carry "the bag;" and the question arises some- 
times, "Was this really the Lord's money? or was it 
money ground from the poor by some hypocrite who 
devoured widows' houses in secret, and gave alms to 
be seen of men? Was it the spontaneous out-gush 
of benevolent hearts and hands? or was it money 
diverted from its proper purposes and uses by some 
professional beggar, employed to coax and tease and 
wheedle and misrepresent, to get money from men, 
which would not have been given with a full and fair 
knowledge of the actual facts in the case?" 

On the other hand, we hear of a tribe of heathen, 
converted by a single tract ; or of a vile sinner thus 
brought to Christ and made a flamino* messenger of 
salvation to the lost ; and when the question is asked, 
"Whose penny paid for that tract?" though we can 
not always give a definite answer, yet our faith loves 
to believe that it was not the ample donation of some 
wealthy worldling, or the liberal alms given to be 
seen of men, heralded in newspapers, and mentioned 
in annual reports ; but rather the scanty mite of some 
poor widow, who, out of her privation and necessity, 
hath cast in all her living, bedewing it with tears and 
following it with prayers, and whose offering, Jesus, 



300 . THE GUIDING HANI). 

who "sat over against the treasury," and marked the 
gift, followed with his eye and attended with his bless- 
ing, until its fruits began to be manifest ; and who will 
continue to care for and increase it until its full per- 
fection in the final harvest day. 

But sometimes in this world the chain of causes 
and effects is more distinctly visible ; and they who 
labor in the service of the Lord, and strive to do good 
to their fellow-men, are permitted, even here, to see 
such results of their labors as °ive encouragement to 
their hearts, and teach them that they have not toiled 
in vain. Such an instance is seen in the case of the 
"light-colored coat." 

We do not know the origin or early history of this 
useful garment. Who made it, sold it, bought it, 
wore it, and laid it aside, or who packed it up and 
sent it to the office of The Revival newspaper, in 
London, we can not tell. 

We know nothing of all these matters, but this 
much we know, the "light-colored coat" was sent to 
some city missionaries in the east of London, who are 
fio-htincr with miHit and main against sin, shame, dirt, 

© © O © 7 7 7 

darkness, disease, death, and the devil ; with preach- 
ing, prayer, porridge, knowledge, coats, garments, 
shoes, soap, water, fire, and every thing else that 
they can press into the work as an instrument of 
blessing to poor, lost, degraded, sinful men. 

Among the distressed and lowly ones there was an 
aged weaver, who had lived all his long life in utter 
neglect of God. His daughter, the poor and afflicted 
mother of an afflicted family, mourned night and day 



THE GUIDING HAND. 301 

over her father's lost condition, and vainly strove to 
lead him to the house of prayer. His constant excuse 
for not going to church was, he had no coat to wear. 
If they would procure a coat, he would stay away no 
longer. The large, "light-colored coat" came in due 
time. It was given to him, and his excuse was taken 
away, and he was prevailed upon to enter the Gospel 
Hall, where Mr. Lewis preached the word of salva- 
tion ; and there, in all his poverty, wretchedness, and 
sin, the Lord met him, and blessed him with light 
and life and joy and peace. 

In his old age and his poverty he found his way 
into the "work-house'' at Bethnal Green, where he 
ended his weary life in the grace and peace of Christ. 
Speaking of his closing hours the missionary says, in 
The Revival, "I much wish these lines could reach 

the eve of one from Avhom a large, light-colored coat 

^ ~ 7 ~ 

was sent, and, through your kindness, forwarded to 
me ; for a message has been brought me from a death- 
bed in Bethnal Gre^n work-house, from one I have 
never seen, saying that he prayed with his dying 
breath, that every garment I gave away might be as 
dear and as precious to souls as that had been to him, 
often repeating again and again with tears, 'That 
coat has been the saving of my soul.''' 

Those lines of acknowledgement may never have 
reached the eye for which they were designed, but 
when the great Judge shall remember and reward 
ca en a cup of cold water given in a disciple's name ; 
when the poor old weaver who died among the pau- 
pers of Bethnal Green, shall stand in white raiment 



302 THE GUIDING HAND. . 

before the throne of glory ; when the faithful giver 
shall hear the words, "I was naked and ye clothed 
me,"' and, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the. 
least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me," from 
the lips of the King of saints, — then the poor weaver 
may know who gave, and the cheerful giver may 
learn who received, this needful garment, and to 
whom it was thus blessed of God. 

And when that day comes, and such results are all 
shown forth to the world; when acts of kindness 
clone in secret for the Saviour's sake, shall shine out 
illuminated beneath the Saviour's smile, will the 
giver of this garment regret the gift, or sorrow that 
it was not left to be a hiding-place for moths, or 
grudgingly say, "It was too good to give away?" 

And this suggests another question : are there not 
other light-colored coats, and dark-colored coats, too, 
in every city where Christians dwell, which might be 
used in similar ways for the glory of God and the 
salvation of lost men ? and would it not be well for 
Christians, instead of laying up garments for moths 
to devour, to ransack their closets and garrets, and 
send their surplus raiment where it will be of use to 
s mie who are perishing in poverty and want and sin, 
thus proving to a gainsaying and selfish world, that 
they still '^remember the words of the Lord Jesus, 
how he said, It is more blessed to give than to 
receive ?" 

" Make channels for the streams of love, 

Where they may broadly run ; . . 

And love has overflowing streams, 
To fill them every one." 



THE GUTDIXG HAND. 303 

THE RAILWAY INTERVIEW. 

God finds work for willing hearts and ready hands ; 
and there is no spot where we can not glorify him if 
we but follow him fully and trust in him with all our 
hearts. It needs only that we be personally purged 
from defilement, and thus be made vessels unto honor, 
fitted for the Master's use, and he will use such for 
his glory and the good of those around us. The fol- 
lowing incident from the British Messenger will 
illustrate this truth : 

A child of God in early life, residing in the sub- 
urbs of a large city, to which she rode daily by the 
railway train, was painfully exercised in soul about 
her duty to the crowds of perishing men who were 
her fellow-travellers ; — on the one hand, impelled to 
speak to every one of them of their guilt and danger ; 
and on the other hand, restrained by maidenly mod- 
esty and a fear that, by unbecoming forwardness, she 
might bring reproach upon the name of Him whom 
she desired to serve. Her sufferings on this account 
prepared her to be led into closer fellowship with the 
Lord ; and she w T as taught to place herself in his 
hands, to walk in him, looking for the opportunity as 
well as the strength for service. 

On the first morning after she had been led to this 
blessed resting-place, she went out with a heart un- 
burdened and free, rejoicing in the Lord, and looking 
up to know what he would have her to do. The car- 
riage she entered was already over-crowded ; but soon 
she observed a woman beckoning to her, and removing 



304 THE GUIDING HAND, 

some bundles from a seat by her side. When they 
were seated together, the woman, seeking sympathy, 
as well as information about her journey, said that 
she had been summoned to a distant part of the 
country, to attend a sister on her death -bed. 

"Is your sister prepared to die ? " asked our young 
friend. 

"Oh!" said the woman, "I wish I were as well 
prepared as she has been for many years." 

"Are 3 r ou not a Christian, then?" 

The woman looked earnestly in the face of the 
questioner, as if to determine the motive with which 
the question had been asked ; and then began to tell, 
with much emotion, how a letter from a dying sister 
had been the means of awakening her to a sense of 
her condition as a sinner, and of the agony she had 
endured for some weeks, while she knew no Chris- 
tian to whom she could unbosom her trouble. 

The opportunity had been given, and the message 
was not withheld, which was a word of power. 

"I believe the Lord himself sent you to me," was 
the conclusion of the grateful and relieved sinner as 
they parted. And that was precisely the conclusion 
of the young believer, who found, in the very outset 
of a new course of service, that it is no vain thing to 
wait upon him. 

Believer, you may have the same proof of his 
faithfulness at every step of your course. Here was 
a heart prepared for the message ; here also was one 
prepared to bear the message ; and both guided unerr- 
ingly to the meeting-place, and that one of the last 



THE GUIDING HANI). 305 

places, man would have chosen. Was it a chance 
meeting? No more than it was by chance that the 
woman came at that very time to Jacob's well, or that 
Jesus reached the gate of Nain just in time to meet 
that funeral procession, or that the same Jesus met 
Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus. But, O 
believer ! how blessed it is to go thus quietly with 
your hand in His ; not driven, but led to the place of 
service : knowing all the while that the work is not 
yours, but his "who worketh in you both to Avill and 
to do." 



A HYMN IN A TAYEBN. 

I have read of a minister of the gospel, who, while 
traveling, I think in one of the western states, 
stopped at a wayside inn to obtain refreshments for 
himself and beast. Dunns: his tarry there, he felt 
strongly impressed to sing a certain hymn ; and 
unusual as it mi<rht seem, he was not disobedient to 
the Spirit's voice, but lifted his solemn song, and 
through it, poured out the pent-up longings of his 
heart for the salvation of those for whom Christ had 
died . 

The song ended. He called for his horse, and 
pursued his journey, little thinking what precious seed 
he had planted in that lonely spot. Many years after 
he passed that way again, and was greeted as a friend 
by those whom he had almost forgotten. 

lie found the lady of the house, and some of her 
family, had entered the path of Christian discipleship, 



306 THE GUIDING HAND. 

and were striving to folio »v Jesus in the way ; and 
they told him there that that sacred song was blessed 
of God, and made the instrument of awakening them 
from their carnal slumbers, and arousing them to seek 
and serve the Lord. 

How many souls, groveling in the midst of earthly 
cares, have thus been caught up on wings of sacred 
song, and borne heavenward with new and strong 
desires. Let us bless God for this precious gift, and 
so use it here that when the eternal son^ begins, our 
voices shall not be found untrained, but shall take up 
the blessed anthem, and sing the praise of Him who 
loved us, and gave himself for us, and redeemed us 
by his blood out of every nation, and kindred, and 
tongue, and people, under heaven. 



A SUICIDE PEEVENTED. 

- The Evangelical Messenger records the following 
incident, related by Mrs Wittenmyer, in an address 
at Cleveland, Ohio : 

On a Monday morning, not very long ago, a 
Christian lady sat at her sewing machine, busy with 
her work, but thinking on other things. Her heart 
was troubled because of her unfaithfulness. She had 
neglected to labor for the conversion of sinners, and 
queried, "But what can I do?" A still small voice 

suggested, "You might have spoken to Mr. B , 

when you purchased Carrie's shoes on Saturday ; it 
is not too late yet." Her thoughts turned to the fact 
that she Ivicl known and traded with Mr. B for 



THE GUIDING HAND. 307 

nearly three years, and had never spoken a word to 
him about his spiritual and eternal welfare. The 
question arose, "Would I be willing to meet him at 
the judgment, with such a record of unfaithfulness 
against me ? " The thought was startling. She could 
not take such a risk. She promptly left her work 
and went to his store. He was alone. Addressing 
him, she said : 

"Mr. B , I have been thinking of you this 

morning, and I am troubled on account of my 
unfaithfulness. I have known you for nearly three 
years, and have never spoken to you about the 
interests of your soul ; and I have come to talk with 
you now, for I could not be willing to meet you at 
the judgment-seat of Christ, without speaking to you 
on that subject." 

While she spoke, he was powerfully affected, and 
said to her, "You little know what I was thinking of 
when you came in : I had made up my mind to take 
my own life, and was trying to determine Avhether to 
use poison or a pistol. But when you made known the 
object of your coming, I knew that God had sent you 
to me." He was led to abandon his wicked purpose, 
and turned to Christ for salvation. 

"A word spoken in due season, how good is it ! " You 
can never know what you can do for the salvation of 
sinners until you have made the proper effort. Oh, 
neglect not this important duty ! Labor daily to win 
souls to Jesus. "He that winneth souls is wise," 
and the "wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
firmament." 



308 THE GUIDING HAND. 

THE SCATTERED TKACTS, 

A Christian lady, whom I shall call Miss E , 

narrated to me the following interesting coincidence : 

"The other day," said she, "I happened to take up, 
quite casually, an old magazine, and found in it a 
story of a man who was converted in India, in a 
rather curious way. The man called on a missionary, 
and begged to know if he had ever heard of Dr. 
Hawker, and if he could direct him to any of his 
writings. The missionary gave him what information 
he possessed, concerning the works of the venerable 
doctor, and wished to know what special reason he 
had for making the inquiry. 

" 'Sir,' said the stranger, 'I once went down to 
the shore near the place where I was residing, in 
order to see a vessel sail for England. The ship was 
gone before I arrived, and the people who had gath- 
ered to see her off were dispersing. As I was turning 
to go home, I noticed, scattered along the beach, a 
number of pieces of paper, many of which I picked 
up. I found that they were tracts, written by one 
Dr. Hawker; I read them with interest, and God 
blessed them to my soul. Before then, I was igno- 
rant of the way of salvation, and knew nothing 
experimentally of Christ. They led me to see that 
Christ was everything; they led me to my Bible, to 
my God, to my Saviour. And now I feel a great 
desire to read whatever other works this good man 
has written, if I can procure them.' 

"Such," continued Miss E , "was the substance 

of the narrative, and it was perused by me with the 



THE GUIDING HAND. 309 

most engrossing interest ; not merely as an example 
t,f the strange ways in which sinners are sometimes 
brought by the Holy Spirit to receive Christ, but 
because of its remarkable coincidence with a circum- 
stance in which I was personally interested, and 
which I will now detail to you. 

"When I was a child, I lived at Plymouth; and 
my dear mother, who had long loved the Lord, was 
a constant attendant on Dr. Hawker's ministry, which, 
in common with all who heard him, she greatly val- 
ued. My father had been dead many years ; but I 
had one brother, who was, unhappily, rather wild, and 
fast getting beyond my poor mothers control. Liv- 
ing in a great sea-port, he had imbibed a strong 
desire to see the world, and nothing would serve but 
that he must go to sea. 

"This resolution was most painful to my mother, 
avIio labored hard to dissuade him from it, though 
with little success. In her trouble she sought the 
counsel of her kind friend and pastor, who, soon per- 
ceiving that my brother was not likely to settle on 
shore, exerted his interest to procure him a berth on 
board an East Indiaman, the commander of which he 
knew to be a worthy man, and likely to look after 
him. He also took an opportunity of giving my 
poor brother much sound advice ; and my mother 
took care that he should not depart without his Bible, 
and a copious supply of good Dr. Hawker's tracts. 
The former she instructed him to read daily ; the lat- 
ter she made him promise to distribute during his 
stay in India. 



310 THE GUIDING HAND. 

" My brother remained abroad several years, and 
when at length he returned, my mother, who had not 
forgotten the tracts, reminded him of his engage- 
ment, and asked what he had done with them. He 
acknowledged that a false shame had prevented him 
from giving them away until he was upon the point 
of returning to Europe, when the remembrance of 
his promise, and his unwillingness to face his mother 
without some kind of a performance of it, induced 
him to think what he could do with them. 'So,' 
said lie, 'I took the whole packet, and strewed them 
along the shore, the very day we sailed. I thought, 
perhaps some one may pick them up and read them, 
and so my mother's intentions may be fulfilled in this 
way.' 

"My brother soon after went to sea, and we never 
saw him again. But my mother was a woman of 
much faith and prayer, and she always believed that 
the tracts were not lost, and that her poor son, also, 
would ultimately be saved. 

"From the tenor of his last letter home, and from 
the accounts we received of his dying hour, we had 
good ground for hope that her prayers for him were 
answered, and that the poor wanderer really found a 
rest in the bosom of his Saviour. As to the tracts, I 
had not the least expectation of hearing any more of 
them in this world ; but when I read the story in the 
old magazine, I felt convinced that my mother's 
prayers for a blessing on them had also been heard. 
For, from the agreement of place and time, I have 
not the sliohtest doubt but that the tracts which the 



THE GUIDING HAND. 311 

poor man picked up, and which were made the chan- 
nel of lio'ht and blessing to his soul, were the identical 
tracts which my brother had strewn on the shore. 
How much further the benefit flowing from them 
may have extended, eternity may declare." 

Such was my friend's talc, which I thought worthy 
of being taken down, because it shows how God may 
make use of means, the most simple, and apparently 
the most unlikely, to work his effectual purpose. Of 
course I do not recommend such a mode of distribu- 
ting tracts as scattering them on the sea-shore, espe- 
cially when the motive was the unworthy one of 
avoiding the cross of confessing Christ. But there 
are two lessons suggested by the incident, the one 
addressed to believers, the other to unbelievers. 

Should this narrative fall under the eye of a ser- 
vant of Christ, I would say, let it encourage you to 
sow the good seed of the kingdom in hope. When 
Dr. Hawker wrote those tracts, and when the good 
lady sent them abroad, neither of them could form 
the least notion how the Lord would bless them ; but 
they acted in faithfulness and in faith, and the result, 
(perhaps only a portion of the result,) we have seen. 
Every testimony to the fullness of Jesus is something, 
however feeble, that the Holy Spirit may use, and 
therefore is not to be despised. "In the morning 
sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine 
hand, for thou knowest not whether shall prosper 
either this or that, or whether they both shall be 
alike good." (Eccl. xi. 6.) 

But to my unconverted readers I have another 



312 THE GUIDING HAND. 

word. The story is to you a lesson of encourage- 
ment, and a lesson of responsibility. What particu- 
lar line of truth the scattered tracts pursued I know 
not; hut they testified of Christ ; and thus they put 
him that found them under responsibility to believe 
the record. Noav I wish that this page should be to 
you what they were to him. To you, as a sinner, 
Christ is offered as a Saviour. You have destroyed 
yourself, but help is laid on Him. "The Lord hath 
laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah liii. 6.) 
God saw that you were under the guilt and curse of 
sin, and that you could do absolutely nothing to de- 
liver yourself. But in his wonderful mercy he 
ordained that his beloved Son should become a man ; 
that he should be made a sacrifice for sin, that 
"whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life." (Johniii. 16.) 

And now that you have read this message, God 
holds you responsible for believing it. He commands 
you to believe it, and it is at your peril if you do not. 
" He that believeth not God hath made him a liar; 
because he believeth not the record that God gave of 
his Son." (1 John v. 10.) 

But if you feel your heart inclined to come to 
Jesus, there is great encouragement for you. See, 
by the poor man's case, how simple a matter is sal- 
vation. He heard the testimony ; he believed it ; he 
was saved. Go, and do likewise, and thou shalt 
prove the same blessed result. Salvation has ever 
been just this : the acceptance by a poor, lost sinner, 
of Jesus as a mighty Saviour. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 313 

PRAY OVEK THEM. 

The Kev. Mr. Kilpin, of Exeter, an eminently 
zealous and useful minister of Christ, relates that a 
young woman, on his asking her if she had read the 
tracts he gave her, answered with embarrassment, 
' k Yes ; ,? though conscious that she had not done so. 
He then gave her others, entreating her to pray over 
them. She took them, and when she got home, threw 
them behind her chamber door, saying, "Pray over 
them, indeed ! Xo, I shall not begin to pray over 
books ! " But as they lay there her eye often rested 
on them, and she thought she heard them say, "Pray 
over us ! Pray over us ! " Probably her conscience 
reproached her at such times for the falsehood she had 
uttered in telling Mr. Kilpin that she had read them, 
and her imagination made the tracts vocal in repeat- 
ing again and again the minister's injunction to pray 
over them. 

At length she thought she would read them, merely 
that she might know what she was asked to pray 
over. The first contained an anecdote which inter- 
ested her ; the next was on eternity, and affected her ; 
the third was on prayer, and brought her to her knees. 
How remarkable and appropriate were the tracts to 
her case, as well as the order in which she was guided 
to their perusal ! Was there not a special providence 
in the subjects presented to her, and divine influence 
exercised to lead her to pray ? She soon became a 
member of Mr. Kilpin's church, and an active distrib- 
uter of tracts. She afterwards continued to be an 



314 THE GUIDING HAND. 

honorable member of the church., married, and 
became a mother; and two of her children, as Mr. 
Kilpin believes, were brought into the fold of the 
Saviour by her pious care and instruction. 



THE PERTINENT TEXT. 

One Sabbath morning, while the Rev. Dr. Bedell, 
of Philadelphia, was preaching, a young man passed 
by, with a number of companions, as gay and thought- 
less as himself. One of them proposed to go into the 
church, saying, "Let us go and hear what this man 
has to say, that everybody is running after." The 
young man made this awful answer: "No; I would 
not go into such a place if Christ himself was 
preaching." 

Some weeks after, he was again passing the church, 
and being alone, and having nothing to do, he thought 
he would go in without being observed. On opening 
the door, he was struck with awe at the solemn silence 
of the place, though it was much crowded. Every 
eye was fixed on the preacher who was about to 
begin his discourse. His attention was instantly 
caught by the text, "I discerned among the youths a 
young man void of understanding." Prov. vii. 7. 
His conscience was smitten by the power of truth. 
He saw that lie was the young man described. A 
view of his profligate life passed before his ej r es, and, 
for the first time, he trembled under the feeling of 
sin. He remained in the church till the preacher and 



THE GUIDING HAND. 315 

congregation had passed out ; then slowly returned 
to his home. He had early received infidel principles, 
but the Holy Spirit, who had aroused him in his folly, 
led him to a constant attendance on the ministry of 
Dr. B., who had been the instrument of awakening 
his mind. He cast away his besetting sin, and gave 
himself to a life of virtue and holiness. He after- 
wards declared openly his faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and his desire to devote himself to his service. 



THE WAYSIDE BETHEL. 

The purposes of divine grace are so entirely beyond 
the wisdom of mortals, both in their conception and 
in their execution, that man, unable to comprehend 
them or pass judgment on them, has only to follow 
the direction of the word and Spirit of the Lord, and 
leave the results with him. The conviction of duty, 
impressed by the Holy Ghost, is never to be disre- 
garded; and if we can assign no reason for our 
obedience to a divine monition, yet in days to come 
all may be made plain to those who know and love 
the Lord. 

I have read of a servant of God who once, while 
on his journey to fulfill his ministry, stopped at a 
hotel for refreshment, and while there was impressed 
to sing a hymn. He sung the sacred song in deep 
and melting strains, and having satisfied his con- 
science, went his way. Long afterwards, however, 
he came to know that that solemn song had been the 



316 THE GUIDING HAND. 

arrow of God to sinner's hearts, and that lost souls 
had thus been won to Christ. 

And often in such methods as this, our heavenly 
Father, choosing his way, his means, his time, and 
his place, causes his people, when guided by unseen 
guidance and in unknown ways, to become instru- 
ments of wondrous blessing to those Avhose faces they 
have never seen. The following circumstance is an 
instance illustrating this truth : 

In the month of July, 1867, Mr. H., a laborer 
in the gospel field, called at the Repository, and said, 
" If you have got anything for me, I want it in ten 
minutes, — I am going to sail for Nova Scotia." 

We immediately packed up some fifty or sixty dol- 
lars' worth of tracts, papers, pamphlets, etc., and 
started them for the vessel which was just ready to 
sail. The voyage was made, and the missionary 
party of four, consisting of Mr. H., his Christian 
friend Captain C. and his wife, and Mrs. P., one 
of u those women that labor in the gospel,' 7 landed 
safely at Y., and started on their journey, preach- 
ing, praying, singing, and distributing tracts and 
copies of The Christian along their way. 

One evening, while on their journey to S., they 
held a meeting in a church at A., and at the close 
repaired to the hotel where they tarried for the night. 
In the morning, as they had a long journey before 
them, th^y arose early, and started, not waiting to 
eat, and rode twelve miles to another tavern, where 
they breakfasted. 

Though they had not had time for their accustomed 



THE GUIDING HANI). 317 

family devotions, yet they felt no freedom of spirit 
to tarry there and pray, and so started again on their 
journey. After a short ride they entered " the 
long woods," a vast forest, where for nine miles not 
a house was to be seen on the road. They had gone 
a mile or two into these woods, when the impression 
came upon them to stop there and have family wor- 
ship. They did so. The sisters remained in the 
carriage, while the brethren alighted upon a large, 
flat rock by the wayside, and there in the solitude of 
the primeval forest they read from the Holy Scrip- 
tures those words of eternal life which are able to 
make us wise unto salvation, and kneeling upon the 
great rock they poured out their hearts to God in 
prayer for his blessing, his guidance, and the assist- 
ance of the Holy Spirit. 

Prayer was no novelty to that little company, nor 
was the divine blessing a strange or unwonted ex- 
perience to them ; but rarely in all their lives had 
they felt such a consciousness of the divine favor as 
in that blessed hour. It seemed as if the Lord was 
especially near to help and bless and comfort their 
pilgrim hearts, and make that place forever sacred 
to their memories. 

" I thought of Bethel," said Mr. H., " for surely 
the Lord was in that place, and we knew it ; and so 
I said, 'Let us build a monument.' So I got hold of 
one end of a big stone, and Captain C. hold of the 
other, and we laid it upon the rock, and then another 
upon that, and so put stone upon stone, till the mon- 
ument was finished. 



318 THE GUIDING HAND. 

' 'Then we said, ' Let us leave a tract here :' and so 
the sisters in the wagon selected one. entitled, 'One 
more Invitation,' and we put it on the top of the pile, 
and put a little stone upon the corner of the tract to 
hold it down, that it might not blow away, and then 
we knelt down again and prayed to God to bless it, 
and make it the instrument of converting some sinner, 
and then started on our journey.'" 

For nearly a hundred miles they scattered tracts 
and papers all the way along their course, and sent 
them back into the interior as opportunity was 
afforded, and proclaimed from place to place the glad 
tidings of the kingdom of Gocl to those who had an 
ear to hear. Returning over the road some two weeks 
later, they stopped beside the great flat rock ; — the 
tract was gone, — -they left another and a copy of The 
Christian with it, prayed again, and having finished 
their mission returned to their homes. 

On arriving in Boston, Mr. H. visited the Reposi- 
tory, and expressed his regret that he had no means 
to pay for the tracts that had been distributed, one 
solitary silver half-dollar being the sum total of the 
receipts for the tracts and papers, — though afterwards, 
when he had expressed a desire that some one would 
give another like it, " so that the two might jingle" 
a lady handed one in. But we told him to make 
himself easy on that score, for the tracts were free, 
and we were glad that they were so well distributed. 
He told us then of the scene by the w^ay-sicle in the 
" nine-mile woods," and of the tracts left and the 
prayers offered there for the blessing on them. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 319 

A few weeks after we saw him again. He was full 
of joy. He rehearsed the story of the Bethel rock, 
and said he, "We have heard from that tract. A man 
on his way through the woods noticed the tract, took 
it down, carried it along with him, and it was the 
means of his conversion, glory to God !" 

The eye of sense might see no special reason why 
these praying ones could not have enjoyed their 
family devotions as well at the hotel as in the dense 
shades of the ' -nine-mile forest," but the Lord fore- 
saw the results of that blessed hour of prayer upon 
the way-side rock. The other tract and papers have 
not been heard from, but perhaps "after many days" 
the scattered bread may be found again. 

Till then we must wait and work and pray. And 
while to many this record may seem as an idle tale, 
and while others may pass and repass that w r ay-sicle 
monument as carelessly as the Canaanites passed by 
the stone that Jacob reared at Luz, yet in the memory 
of the few that worshiped at the waj-side Bethel, 
and in the sight of angels that wing their way from 
heaven to earth, that rude heap of stones in the "nine- 
mile forest" of Pubnico, may have a grandeur which 
mmy a lofty monument does not possess, and a 
remembrance when the sculptured memorials of 
earthly greatness shall all have passed away; for 
the beginnings of a neAV and endless life in one soul, 
may be traced to that lonely place of worship. It 
maybe that around it will gather something of the 
interest which attaches to that Zion of which it is 
said, "The Lord shall count, when he writeth 



320 THE GUIDIXG HAND. 

up the people, that this man was born there." 

Thus does our Father, by his Spirit's guiding, 
Direct the ways of tho^e who trust in Him ; 

Thus does he bless the saints who walk confiding, 
Thus does he save the perishing from sin. 

And when earth's solemn mysteries are broken, 
In the eternal light that God shall shed, 

Then shall our praises loud and glad be spoken, 
For all the ways where he our feet hath led. 



A SLEEP— AND WHAT CAME OF IT. 

The importance of any single act in human life can 
not be estimated by ignorant and short-sighted mor- 
tals. Insignificant circumstances may shape the 
mightiest destinies, and untoward events may be 
freighted with the richest blessings. Through the 
tangled by-ways of disappointment and trial, God 
leads us on to blessedness and rest. Jesus "must 
needs go through Samaria," and the need was not 
merely because that region lay upon the route to Jeru- 
salem, but also because there were there lost sheep 
who awaited the good Shepherd's coming, and longed 
to hear his voice. And though the eye of sense only 
saw a faint and weary pilgrim sitting by Jacob's well, 
while his disciples had gone into the city to buy 
bread, the eye of faith, looking back upon the scene, 
beholds there the anointed messenger of God, wait- 
ing at the appointed time and place, ready to speak 
"a word in season" to the sinful water-carrier, — hav- 
ing meat to eat unknown to those around, and bear- 
ing a message to the poor Samaritans, which led 
many to believe on Him. And so also the servants 



THE GUIDING HAND. 321 

of God are made instruments of blessing, often with- 
out their knowledge and against all their own calcu- 
lations. "This also cometh forth from the Lord of 
hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in 
working." 

Near the close of the month of August, 1866, Mr. 

S , a Christian brother from Philadelphia, passing 

in the vicinity of Boston, took occasion to call at 
The Scriptural Tract Repository, that he might 
renew the friendship of other days, and also person- 
ally acquaint himself with a work in which he had 
felt a deep and active interest. A few pleasant hours 
were spent in inspecting and discussing the opera- 
tions of the Repository, and the day drew to a close. 
The distance of the writer's residence made it incon- 
venient for Mr. S to accept the invitation to share 

his hospitalities for the night, and as he was a stranger 
in the city, it was proposed to send him to the house 
of a friend residing in the vicinity. The arrangement 
was accordingly suggested to the parties concerned, 
and proved acceptable ; and at the appointed hour 

Mr. S started for his abiding place, in company 

with his host, who proposed, as there was a public 
gathering in Faneuil Hall, that they should stop for a 
little while, on their way home, and listen to the 
proceedings there. 

They stopped. Mr. S , feeling little interest in 

the objects of the meeting, seated himself at one side 
awaiting the pleasure of his companion, and soon fell 
asleep. His companion, after passing around the 
hall, staying awhile, and satisfying his curiositv. 
11 



322 THE GUIDING HAND. 

sought his guest to escort him to his residence, but 
could not find him. After a somewhat thorough 
search in all parts of the crowd, he, concluding that 

Mr. S had grown tired of waiting and had left, 

started for home, expecting to find him there, but to 
his mortification, on arriving he learned that nothing 
had been seen of his guest; nor did he come that 
night. 

Meanwhile Mr. S , having awakened from his 

slumber and vainly sought his companion among the 
crowd, passing hither and thither, and waiting till 
nearly all the people were dispersed, but finding no 
one that he knew in the hall, took his leave. 

His position was rather embarrassing, for he was a 
stranger in a strange city. He returned to the Repos- 
itory, and would have taken shelter there, but all 
was dark and the doors were closed. After some 
wandering among the crooked streets of Boston, he 
found a hotel, and secured a resting place for the 
night. 

In the morning, needing refreshments, he entered 
a dining saloon near the Repository, and ordered 
breakfast. He was served by a young man of intel- 
ligent appearance, whose jet black hair and dark 
complexion indicated that his Caucasian blood had 
felt the burning sunshine of a tropical climate; and 
he was led by an impulse such as Christians under- 
stand, to inquire into his history, and speak to him 
concerning the faith of Christ, and the blessed hope. 
He found an attentive listener, one "whose heart the 
Lord had opened," and who desired to know the grace 



THE GUIDING HAND. 323 

of God in truth. Returning to the Repository he nar- 
rated the haps and mishaps of his night's experience, 
which were sufficiently embarrassing to the parties 
concerned, but which were quickly passed over to their 
place among the "all things" that "work together for 
good to them that love God ;" and he spoke particularly 
of this young man, whom he had met, and made ar- 
rangements by which he could receive The Christian 
and other religious publications, and be more perfectly 
taught in the way of life. Dining in the same place, 
he had an opportunity to speak again to the young 

stranger, concerning' the things of God ; and so he 

© ' © © 

departed to bis distant home, not forgetting to pray 
for, and subsequently to inquire after, one whose 
welfare the Lord had thus laid upon his heart. 

The good seed took root, and the young man was 
led to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and to con- 
fess him before men, and lift the voice of prayer and 
praise to God, and humbly testify of the grace that 
he had found. 

Once he was in darkness. Born amid the palm 
groves of Hindostan, but a short distance from the 
far-famed temple of Juggernaut, his early life was one 
of ignorance and heathenish superstition. Brought 
to this country by a gentleman some years since, and 
living in various cities, he was yet without God, 
though in a land of Bibles and Sunday-schools. But 
at length, in this, his own mysterious way, the Good 
Shepherd found the wandering sheep, and led him to 
his fold ; and it was cheering to hear him tell the 
story of his former lost estate, and how Jesus died 



324 THE GUJDING HAND. 

for him though he knew nothing of it ; and how at 
last he had brought him home to rest and peace. 

When the woman at Jacob's well found Christ and 
heard him speak the words of truth and life, she "left 
her water-pot and went her way into the city," for- 
getful of her former pursuits, and only seeking that 
others might share the blessing she had gained. And 
this is but the expression of the feeling of all who 
hear the Saviour's voice. So this young man thought 
and spoke of his father and mother in a far off heathen 
land, bowing down to dumb idols, ignorant of Christ, 
and without hope in the world ; and longed to go and 
tell to them the tidings that the woman of Samaria 
told to those whom she had known. The providence 
of God afforded him an opportunity to attend school ; 
and his future is in the hands of Him who loved him 
and pitied him in the darkness of far-off Hindostan ; 
who led him all his way in mercy, and brought him 
to a knowledge of his grace. 



THE FIEST AWAKENED. 

In a church with which the writer was acquainted, 
destitute at the time of a pastor, but not without 
some members who walked with God, the following 
fact occurred : — A young lady in making a visit to 
one of her acquaintance, took an unfrequented path 
through a deeply shaded grove, and as the day was 
very warm, after pursuing her walk some distance up 
a somewhat steep acclivity, she stopped to rest her- 
self on a beautiful mossy bank. While seated there, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 325 

the tones of a human voice very unexpectedly broke 
upon her ear. On turning her eye the way from 
whence they came, she saw Deacon M on horse- 
back, making his way up the same hill. 

The thought occurred to her that she would retire 
from the sight of the road, let him pass, and remain 
undiscovered. This she did. As the Deacon ap- 
proached leisurely on his horse, she was wondering 
what could be his object in being so busily engaged 
in talking to himself, as she could distinctly discover 
that no fellow- mortal accompanied him. As he drew 
nearer, and she could hear his voice more plainly, she 
ascertained that he was engaged in prayer. The only 
sentence that left a distinct impression on her mind 
was, "O Lord, have mercy on the dear youth in this 
place." 

He passed on praying, till the sounds which came 
from his lips died away on her ear. But an impres- 
sion was made upon her heart, as it may be hoped, 
which will never die away, but prepare her to mingle 
in the symphonies of the redeemed in ascribing salva- 
tion to God and the Lamb. A new discovery respect- 
ing Christians was at this instant made to her. "Is 
this the manner," she reflected with herself, "in which 
they live, and pass on their way about the town? Do 
they thus pray for the youth? How unlike to a 
Christian have I lived ! I have never prayed in this 
manner ; I have seldom thought of the souls of others, 
and cared but very little for my own. While others 
pray for me, I live without praying for myself." 
Her sins, particularly her neglect of prayer to Him 



326 THE GUIDING HAND. 

who is everywhere, now became a distressing burden 
to her. Soon, we have reason to hope, there was joy 
among the angels of God over her as a penitent, and 
over many others in the town. She was the first 
awakened in a revival. 



THE SKEPTIC AND THE BIRD'S NEST. 

A short time since, a gentleman, conversing of his 
visit to South America, spoke of an interview with a 
young man, whom he had formerly known in New 
York, and who, like man}' others, having more 
money than good counsel left him by his parents, 
soon became self-sufficient, and went on from one 
vice to another till he became an open infidel. He 
had remained thus when he left New York for South 
America, but when this gentleman met him, the 
avowed infidel had become a humble believer in 
Jesus Christ, and the tongue that was wont to blas- 
pheme was lifting the voice of supplication for the 
blessing of God upon his guilty soul. Greatly sur- 
prised at seeing the young man " clothed and in his 
right mind," the gentleman inquired what had wrought 
the change. 

Said he, "You know I spent much of my time in 
fishing and hunting, and a few weeks since, on a 
beautiful Sabbath morning, I went in search of a'ame. 
Being weary of roaming about the woods, I sat down 
on a log to rest. While thus seated, my attention 
was attracted to a neighboring tree, by the cries of a 



THE GUIDING HAND. 327 

bird which was fluttering over her nest, uttering 
shrieks of anguish as if a viper were destroying her 
young. 

"On looking about, I soon found the subject of 
her dread, in that apt emblem of all evil, a venomous 
snake, dra<ro*iii£ his slow length along: towards the 
tree, his eye intent on the bird and her nest. Pres- 
ently I saw the male bird coming from a distance 
with a little twig covered with leaves, in his mouth. 
Instantly the father bird laid the twig over his mate 
and her young, and then perched himself on one of 
the topmost branches of the tree, awaiting the arrival 
of the enemy. 

"By this time the snake had reached the spot. 
Coiling himself around the trunk, he ascended the 
tree at length ; fiflidins: along" the branch till he came 
near the nest, he lifted his head as if to take his vic- 
tims by surprise. He looked at the nest, then sud- 
denly drew back his head as if he had been shot, and 
hurriedly made his way down the tree. 

"I had the curiosity to see what had turned him 
from his malicious purpose ; and on ascending the 
tree, I found the twig to have been broken from a 
poisonous bush which that snake was never known 
to approach. 

"Instantly the thought rushed across my mind, 
<TTho taught that bird its only weapon of defense in 
this hour of peril?' and quick as thought came the 
answer, 'None but God Almighty, whose very exist- 
ence I have denied, but in whose pardoning mercy, 
through Jesus Christ, I am now permitted to hope.' ' 



328 THE GUIDING HAND. 

God sends men to the ant to learn industry, to the 
ravens and the lilies for lessons of trust ; and here in 
the protection of a defenseless bird's nest from a 
cruel foe, shines out the same kind providence which 
watches the falling sparrow and numbers the hairs of 
our heads. No wonder that the infidel was convinced 
of his error ; for surely, none but the fool can say in 
his heart, " There is no God." 



BRANDS PLUCKED FROM THE FIRE. 

In the Spring of 1847 I was traveling with a brother 
clergyman, on our way to an ecclesiastical meeting 

in P , Va. Having to pass through the county 

of A , we proposed going by the village at the 

court-house, and to call on friends there, but being 
engaged in conversation, w T e passed a cross road lead- 
ing to the court-house, and did not discover our mis- 
take until Ave had gone several miles, when it was 
too late to return. While we reproached ourselves 
for our inattention, the Lord was guiding us in a way 
Ave knew not, and for a purpose Ave could not per- 
ceive. 

We had not proceeded far Avhen Ave perceived a 
house on fire about half a mile distant. The younger 
of the two put his horse into a gallop, and soon came 
up to the fire. It Avas a log house, and the roof Avas 
in a blnze in three places. On entering the house he 
Avas met at the threshold by the piteous cry of an old 
man, Avho Avas lying on a trundle-bed in one corner, 
entirely crippled with rheumatism, and as helpless 



THE GUIDING HAND. 329 

as an infant. "O, sir," cried he, "for mercy's sake 
take me out, or I shall be burned up alive !" He 
became a little more calm when assured that he was 
not in immediate danger, and that he would be taken 
care of in time. In the loft above was found his aged 
and terror-stricken wife, who had been trying in vain 
to extinguish the fire with a little tin bucket half full 
of water, and a small gourd. As soon as the young 
minister found an axe, he went heartily to work ; and 
after knocking off a large portion of the roof, suc- 
ceeded in extinguishing the fire, and had the pleasure 
of assuring the old couple that the danger was over 
and all was safe. They expressed their gratitude 
with flowing tears and many thanks. The minister 
told them to give thanks to God, whose providence 
alone had saved them, — that they intended to have 
taken another road, but had been led this way. 

"Wonderful mercy !" said the old man ; and trem- 
bling and turning pale at the thought, he added, "Oh, 
had you gone by the court-house, we had by this 
time been burned to ashes. What a mercy, what a 
mercy !" he continued to repeat, and said, "Oh, how 
wicked I have been! I have never believed in a 
providence. I laughed at it, and hated the thought 
that God took any notice of us ; but now I feel there 
is a providence. Yes, there is a providence that sent 
you here to save us from the fire. " 

He then inquired who we were, and where from; 
and "when told that we were ministers of the gospel, 
and that one of us lived twenty-five miles and the 
other one hundred miles distant, he was deeply 



330 THE GUIDING HAND. 

affected, and said, "How strange it is ! I have 
always hated ministers, and would not permit them 
to cross my door-sill, and now God has sent two of 
them to save such an old, vile, crippled creature as I 
am from death !" 

He began then to confess the sins of his past life, 
and particularly expressed regret that he had so long 
opposed his wife, who, he said, always wanted to be 
a Christian. He had been a soldier in Wayne's 
army, and there, he said, he had learned to drink 
liquor, to scoff at religion, and to make Tom Paine's 
book his bible ; "and now," said he, "I begin to feel 
the guilt of it all. It comes upon me like a moun- 
tain's load." 

They were told that their sins had kindled the 
more dreadful fire of perdition, from which no earthly 
arm could save ; and they were both urged to flee 
from the wrath to come, and lay hold on the hand 
that was nailed t ) the cross. A tract entitled, "The 
Conversion of John Price," was read to them. It 
contains a brief notice of the downward course of an 
habitual drinker and gamester, and of his wonderful 
reformation and conversion to God. One of the 
most touching passages in the tract is that in which 
he asks his little daughter to read the Bible to him. 
She read the fifty-first psalm and the one hundred 
and third. The father was much affected, and wept 
and said, "Surely, God made her choose those two 
psalms." 

The old couple, both in tears, listened to the read- 
ing, and when it was completed, he said, "Surely, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 331 

God made you choose that for us, — every word of it 
comed home to my heart ; and now will you be kind 
enough to read to us the same chapters of the Bible 
that the little girl read to her father ?" The request 
was granted, and the fifty-first psalm was read. 
"Have mercy upon me, O God," etc. It was distinctly 
read. There he lay upon his bed, a man of large 
frame, with a finely developed head, a high and full 
forehead, a large blue eye, and expanded chest, but 
with his arms and legs so contracted by rheumatism 
that for sixteen years he had been unable to move 
himself without aid. As the reading proceeded, his 
broad chest began to heave with emotion, and the 
tears ran down his cheeks. On hearing the fourth 
verse, "Against thee, thee only have I sinned," he 
cried out, "Yes, that is the worst of it; it is all 
against God,— all against God. Have mercy on 
me, O God." He became more composed, and 
when the reading was finished, he said, "That is 
God's word, and seems made on purpose for me." 

His aged wife, who was filled with wonder and 
delight at what she had both seen and heard, asked 
that the other psalm might be read. The hundred 
and third psalm was accordingly read, "Bless the 
Lord, O my soul," etc. The old lady was greatly 
agitated ; she walked up and down the room, ex- 
claiming, "Bless the Lord, O my soul! bless the 
Lord, he has saved us this day from fire, and he will 
save us from our sins ; he forgiveth all our iniquities. 
Bless the Lord, that I have lived to see this day. 
My old man will now let me read and sing and pray ; 



332 THE GUIDING HAND. 

he will let ministers come to our house, and we will 
both seek and serve the Lord together." 

After much such talk, Ave kneeled and prayed, — 
the first prayer, as the old man said, that was ever 
made in that house. We bade them farewell, not 
expecting to meet them again until the judgment 
day. The old couple lived about three years after 
this event, and we are credibly informed that they 
lived in a manner to illustrate and magnify the won- 
drous grace of God to the chief of sinners, and then 
died, both in the^same year, full)' fourscore years of 
age, in the faith and lively hope of the gospel of 
Christ. 



A COLLEGE AND ITS PRESIDENT, 

On the twenty-sixth day of December, 1831, died 
Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia, at the age of eighty- 
one years. Born near Bordeaux, in France, May 
'21st, 1750, the son of a seaman, and bred to his 
father's calling, he rose in time, to be master of a 
vessel, and accumulated sufficient property to estab- 
lish himself as a small trader in Philadelphia in 1769. 
After his settlement there, various shrewd ventures 
and favorable circumstances contributed to increase 
his possessions. Some fifty thousand dollars' worth 
of property, placed for safe-keeping on board of two 
of his vessels in one of the ports of Saint Domingo, 
fell into his hands in consequence of the slaughter of 
the owners and their families during the insurrection 
there. His diligent hand made him rich ; he exacted 



THE GUIDING HAND. hob 

his clues to the uttermost farthing ; and by labor, fore- 
sight, and economy, he amassed a fortune of some 
nine millions of dollars, most of which, by his will, 
was devoted to purposes of benevolence and public util- 
ity. So unsocial, frugal, grasping, and parsimonious 
was he that it is said, "he never had a friend ;" yet he 
was generous in his benefactions, and especially 
mindful of the necessities of those who were sick ; 
and during the prevalence of the yellow fever in Phil- 
adelphia, in 1793, 1797, and 1798, he gave not only 
his money, but his personal labors, for the relief of 
the suffering ; performing the most menial services, 
acting as both physician and nurse, and for some two 
months taking charge of one of the yellow fever hos- 
pitals . 

Shrewd, but uneducated; inheriting French ideas 
and traditions; in religion a "free thinker," and a 
disciple of Voltaire and Rousseau ; his early training 
and experience left him with little faith in priests or 
ecclesiastics, and when, at his death, he bequeathed 
more than two millions of dollars, together with a plot 
of ground in Philadelphia, for the erection and sup- 
port of a college for orphans, he expressly declared 
in his will, that, while the officers of the institution 
were to instruct the pupils in the purest principles of 
morality, no ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister of 
any sect whatever, w^as to hold any connection with 
the college, or be admitted to the premises even as a 
visitor; so that students might be left free from sec- 
tarian influences, and allowed to form their own 
religious opinions upon their entrance into active life. 



334 THE GUIDING HAND. 

Work on the college' was commenced in July, 
1833, and more than $1,930,000 was expended in 
building and preparing. The college was opened for 
use January 1st, 1848. The main edifice is a splen- 
did marble structure, 169 feet long, 111 feet wide, 
and 97 feet high; which, with other appropriate build- 
ings, stands in the midst of forty-one acres of play- 
grounds and gardens. Since its opening, this place 
has been the home of hundreds of orphan boys, who 
have there been educated, trained, and fitted for 
active life ; though no minister of the gospel has 
been allowed to visit or address them. 

The importance of religious teaching in early years 
can hardly be overestimated; but it is a matter of 
gratitude that men need not be dependent on minis- 
ters or ecclesiastics for the knowledge of God, or for 
instruction in righteousness; and hence, while cler- 
gymen of all sects are excluded from Girard college, 
men of devout and earnest faith have not been want- 
ing to teach the pupils there the way of life and 
peace. 

Dr. Geo. E. Adams tells, in the Boston Recorder, 
how one president was prepared for Girard college : 
"On -the 25th of September, 1829, a new class 
entered Bowdoin college, — among them, William 
Henry Allen. The first recitation of the class, in 
Latin, was to Prof. T. C. Upham. At a very early 
date, the professor, who never seemed to see any- 
body, but always saw everybody, marked Allen, in 
his own mind, as one who was bound to be a power 
in the world ; and resolved to do whatever he could 



THE GUIDING HAND. 335 

to make him a power for Christ ; and following his 
rule to say some word in regard to personal religion 
to some one, every day, soon and repeatedly 
approached this young man, and endeavored to per- 
suade him to consecrate his life to the Saviour. 
Allen, however, was rather worldly and ambitious, 
indisposed to make of religion a very pressing sub- 
ject of attention just then, and though the professor, 
strong in faith and prayer, and in the power of God's 
truth, was not wont to be defeated in any Christian 
enterprise to which- his heart was given, it was not 
till the young man had been away from the college 
for some time, that he confessed to Prof. Upham 
that the seed he had sown had sprung up, and begun 
to bear fruit. 

" 'Now, then,' said the professor to himself, 
< Allen must be induced to enter the ministry.' On 
this point, the professor failed. 'And I never 
could understand it,' said Prof. Upham to me, one 
day, 'till I learned that he had been made president 
of a college, within whose walls he never could have 
entered, had he become a minister, and, within those 
walls, was delivering two excellent Christian dis- 
courses every Sunday.' ' 

The care, education, and support of a college con- 
taining five or six hundred orphans, between the ages 
of six and eighteen— including provision for food, 
raiment, and an apprenticeship to honest occupa- 
tions—is a matter which might well deserve the 
attention of Him who is "a Father of the fatherless ;" 
and so, while he was leading the mind of a worldly 



336 THE GUIDING HAND. 

skeptic to devote his hoarded millions to so good an 
end, he knew how to train the man he needed to 
administer such a weighty trust, keeping him free 
from ecclesiastical titles or sectarian bonds, that he 
might serve his generation by the will of God, on a 
broader basis than a denominational platform, and 
in a ministry beyond the reach of professional 
ecclesiastics. And the fact that William H. 
Allen, LL.D., President of Girard college, was 
elected and for years served as President of the Amer- 
ican Bible Society, leads us to infer that, after all, 
Girard college, with its magnificent marble build- 
ings, and its grand endowment, is not an entirely 
godless concern, but that He who watches over all 
the interests of his creatures, has wrought out its 
destinies according to the counsel of his own will. 



HOWE AND THE MAGISTRATE. 

The eminent John Howe, who died in England in 
1705, had many remarkable experiences, of which he 
kept some records. But in his last illness he called 
his son, and sending him to his private desk for a 
number of small manuscript volumes, he, for reasons 
which he did not explain, made him solemnly promise 
that he would immediately destroy them all. But 
though he left no memorials of his history, yet the 
savor of his piety and zeal remains, and a biographer 
writes of him : "We know of no individual of that 
age who stands before us with a character so fair and 
perfect as John Howe ; who maintained so signally, 



THE GUIDING HAND. oo< 

throughout many a checkered scene, a walk and con- 
versation becoming the gospel." 

The following incident in his life, illustrates the 
guidance of the Lord ; both in the deliverance of his 
faithful servant from danger, and in making him an 
instrument of the salvation of a cruel persecutor : 

When the melancholy state of the times compelled 
this excellent man to quit the public charge of his 
beloved congregation at Torrington, in Devonshire, 
impressed with a sense of duty, he embraced every 
opportunity of preaching the word of life. He and 
Mr. Flavel used frequently to conduct their secret 
ministration at midnight, in different houses in the 
north of Devonshire. One of the principal of these 
was Hudscott, an ancient mansion belon^ino- to the 
family of Rolte, between Torrington and Southmol- 
ton. Yet, even there, the observant eye of malevo- 
lence was upon them. Mr. Howe had been officiating 
there, one dark and stormy wintry night, when an 
alarm was made that information had been given, and 
a warrant granted to apprehend him. It was judged 
prudent for him to quit the house ; but in riding over 
a large common, he and his servant missed their way. 
After several fruitless offorts to recover it, the attend- 
ant went forward to seek for a habitation, where 
they might find directions or a lodging. He soon 
discovered a mansion, and received a cheerful invita- 
tion to rest there for the night. But how great was 
Mr. Howe's surprise to find, on his arrival, that the 
house belonged to his most inveterate enemy, a country 
magistrate who had often breathed the most implacable 



338 THE GUIDING HAND. 

vengeance against him, and, as he had reason to 
believe, was well acquainted with the occasion of his 
traveling at such an hour. However, he put the best 
face he could upon it, and even mentioned his name 
and residence to the o-entleman, trusting to Providence 
for the result. His host ordered supper to be pro- 
vided, and entered into a lengthened conversation 
with his guest ; and was so delighted with his com- 
pany, that it was a very late hour before he could 
permit him to retire. In the morning, Mr. Howe 
expected to be accosted with a commitment, and sent 
to Exeter jail; but, on the contrary, he was received 
by the family at breakfast with a very hospitable 
welcome. After mutual civilities, he departed to his 
own abode, greatly wondering to himself at the kind- 
ness of a man from whom he had before dreaded so 
much. Not long after, the gentleman sent for Mr. 
Howe, who found him confined to bed by sickness, and 
still more deeply wounded with a sense of sin. He 
acknowledged that, when Mr. Howe came first to his 
door, he inwardly rejoiced that he had an opportunity 
of exercising his malice upon him, but that his con- 
versation and his manner insensibly awed him into 
respect. He had seriously meditated on the observa- 
tions which had fallen from the lips of the man of 
God, and had become penitent, earnestly anxious for 
the blessings of eternal life. From that sickness he 
recovered, became an eminent Christian, a friend to 
the conscientious, and an intimate companion of the 
man whom he had threatened with his vengeance in 
his sinful days. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 339 

A STRANGE OPENING. 

Among the many remarkable ways in which God 
opens the door for his truth to reach the hearts of 
men, the following instance was narrated by an 
English town missionary, not long ago : 

There was a lodging house in his district, which 
he had long desired to enter, but was deterred from 
so doing by his friends, who feared that his life would 
be thereby endangered. He became at length so 
uneasy from his convictions of duty, that he deter- 
mined to risk all consequences and try to gain admis- 
sion. So one day he gave a somewhat timid knock 
at the door, in response to which a coarse voice roared 
out, " Who's there ?" and at the same moment a vicious 
looking woman opened the door and ordered the 
man of God away. "Let him come in, and see who 
he is and what he wants," growled out the same voice. 
The missionary walked in, and bowing politely to the 
rough-looking man whom he had just heard speak, 
said : 

"I have been visiting most of the houses in this 
neighborhood to read with and talk to the people 
about good things. I have passed your door as long 
as I feel I ought, for I wish also to talk with you and 
your lodgers." 

"Are you what is called a town missionary? " 

"I am, sir," was the reply. 

"Well, then," said the fierce-looking man, "sit down 
and hear what I am going to say. I will ask you a 
question out of the Bible. If you answer me right 



340 THE GUIDING HAND. 

you may call at this house, and read and pray with 
us and our lodgers as much as you like; if you do 
not answer me right, we will tear the clothes off* your 
back, and tumble you neck and heels into the street. 
Now what do you say — for I am a man of my word?" 

The missionary was perplexed, but at length qui- 
etly said, "I will take you." 

"Well, then," said the man, "here goes. Is the 
word girl in any part of the Bible ? If so, where is it 
to be found, and how often? That is my question." 

"Well, sir, the word girl is in the Bible, but only 
once, and may be found in the words of the prophet 
Joel, iii. 3. The words are, fc And sold a girl for 
wine that they might drink.'" 

"Well," replied the man, "I am dead beat ; I durst 
have bet five pounds you could not have told." 

"And I could not have told yesterday," said the 
visitor. "For several days I have been praying that 
the Lord would open me a way into this house, and 
this very morning, when reading the Scriptures in 
my family, I was surprised to find the word girl, and 
got the Concordance to see if it occurred again, and 
found it did not. And now, sir, I believe that God 
did know, and does know what will come to pass, 
and surely his hand is in this for my protection and 
your good." 

The whole of the inmates were greatly surprised 
at this manifest token of providential direction, and 
were thus led to serious reflection, and this remark- 
able incident has been overruled to the hopeful con- 
version of the man, his wife, and two of the lodgers. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 341 

COLLINS AND THE FUNERAL. 

Among the mighty men of God who labored to 
spread the gospel of Christ in the newly-settled por- 
tions of America, was John Collins, who was born in 
New Jersey, in -1769, and died in Maysville, Ken- 
tucky, August 21st, 1842. Earnest, logical, devout, 
and eloquent, many souls were given him as seals of 
his ministry, among whom was John McLean, after- 
wards Chief Justice of the United States Supreme 
court, to whose pen we are indebted for a sketch of 
Collins'- life, and various incidents connected with his 
ministry. 

Unlike many at the present day, Collins could not 
harmonize in his own mind the practice of war with 
the gospel of peace, and hence, when he would follow 
Christ, he forsook the world. When he was con- 
verted, he held the office of major of the militia : 
this he laid down when he received a commission in 
ImmantiePs army. The one who succeeded him came 
to purchase his uniform and arms, and Mr. Collins 
said to him, in his own peculiar style, " My friend, 
when you put these on think of the reason why I put 
them ojf" The remark made an indelible impression 
upon his mind, sunk deep into his soul, and led to 
important results. It led him to reflect, and his 
reflections led him to act. He, also, renounced his 
commission, and became a man of prayer ; he yielded 
to the most illustrious of conquerors, enlisted in the 
army of the redeemed, and fought under the great 
4 'Captain of our salvation." 



342 THE GUIDING HAND. 

Iii the experience of Collins, there were frequent 
instances which illustrate the direction of the Guiding 
Hand. The following interesting instance is an 
example : 

When the country was new and but thinly settled, 
Mr. Collins was riding upon the banks of the Ohio 
river, some thirty or forty miles above Cincinnati, 
in company with a friend, when they came to the 
forks of the road ; the left-hand road led more directly 
to their place of destination, the right was more cir- 
cuitous; but Mr. Collins, against remonstrance, pre- 
ferred the latter, from an impression which he did 
not particularly define. It led to the mouth of Red 
Oak, where the town of Ripley is now situated. 

As they approached this point they saw a funeral 
procession, which they immediately joined, and fol- 
lowed it to the grave. It was the first funeral in 
that place. The corpse was the wife of Mr. Bernard 
Jackson, an avowed infidel. The scarcity of minis- 
ters in a newly-settled country often prevents the 
holding of religious exercises in connection with the 
burial of the dead, and the skepticism of Mr. Jackson 
may have tended to the same result. But whether 
he desired it or not, God had purposed that to those 
people who had gathered to open the first grave in 
their forest settlement, the gospel of Him who 
brought life and immortality to light should be pro- 
claimed for the salvation of those whose probation 
was yet extended. The hour had come, and the 
messenger of God was ready with his tidings. After 
the grave was covered, Mr. Collins stepped forward 



THE GUIDING HAND. 343 

and made known to the people that he was a preacher 
of the gospel, and would then preach a sermon to all 
that remained. No one went away. Solemnly and 
seriously they stood around the new-made grave, 
where one of their number had just "been laid, and 
listened while he read for his text, " I am the resur- 
rection and the life : he that believeth in me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live; "and preached to 
them the word of everlasting life. 

The word was quick and powerful, and sharper 
than a two-edged sword. The circumstances of the 
occasion, and the manifestation of the hand of God 
in guiding his servant to that mourning group, added 
to the solemnity of the hour ; and while death and 
judgment, and life and immortality, were set before 
the people, all hearts were moved by the power of 
the truth. There were many tears and sobs in the 
conoTeixation. The infidel husband was overcome ; 
and from that day and hour he renounced infidelity, 
shortly after became a member of the church, lived 
to adorn the Christian religion, and died in peace. 
He had one son, who was afterwards a traveling 
preacher in the state of Indiana. 

Mr. Collins believed in a special providence. The 
inclination to take the right-hand road, he believed 
was prompted b}^ it, of which he could entertain 
no doubt when he saw the funeral procession and 
preached to the mourning crowd. 

''And is this," says Judge McLean, who relates 
this incident, "too small a matter for Deit}"? Peter 
was called to preach to Cornelius ; and his objections 



344 THE GUIDING HAND. 

were overcome in an extraordinary manner. Philip, 
being prompted by the Spirit, joined himself to the 
chariot of the eunuch, and 'preached unto him Jesus.' 
And who that believes the Bible does not believe 
that the same Spirit operates more or less upon Chris- 
tians at the present day?" 

Would that this inward guiding was more devoutly 
sought and teachably accepted; then, where we now 
see sinners scoffing at a money-seeking ministry, we 
should see them filled with solemn awe at the provi- 
dence which guides the servants of the Lord, and 
the might that clothes and seals his quick and power- 
ful Word. 

A BLESSED MISTAKE. 

One day as Felix Neff, the Swiss Evangelist, was 
walking in a street in Lausanne, a city in Switzerland, 
he saw in the distance, as he supposed, a person with 
whom he was acquainted. He ran up behind him, 
and overtaking him, tapped him on the shoulder and 
said, "What is the state of your soul, my friend?" 
The person turned quickly about at the abrupt query, 
and proved to be an entire stranger. Neff saw his 
error, apologized, left him, and went his way. 

Some three or four years afterward, a person came 
to Xeff and accosted him, saying that he was indebted 
to him for his inestimable kindness. ]S T eff did not 
recognize him, and desired him to explain his mean- 
ing. The stranger answered, "Have you forgotten 
an unknown person, whose shoulder you touched in 



THE GUIDING HAM), 345 

m street of Lausanne, and whom you asked, 'How 
do you lind your soul?' It was I ; your question led 
me to serious reflections, and now I find it is well 
with my soul." 

By such strange and inexplicable means does God 
bring about the accomplishment of his purposes of 
mercy and grace. Time, place, and circumstances 
are all subservient to his will. And the anointed 
sons of God are often led by a way they know not, 
and upon errands unperceived, for the glory of God 
and the benefit and salvation of mankind. "Thou 
shaft guide me with thy counsel," said David. Blessed 
are they who are guided by such a gracious hand. 



A BABBIT CHASE, 

More than sixty years ago, in a retired New 
England parish, three youths met by agreement every 
Sunday morning, and walked together to church. 
One, who was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker, was 
an earnest Christian ; another was a skeptic ; and 
between these two, during the walk, the subject of 
religion was warmly discussed. Each, however, 
remained firm in his own convictions. 

It chanced one day that the apprentice was in the 
hay-field, looking at the men as they were mowing. 
Suddenly a rabbit started up among the mowers, 
who threw down their scythes and gave chase. The 
lad, too, joined in the pursuit, and, carried away by 
the excitement, he unwarily set his bare heel on one 
of the sharp scythes. Help was immediately called, 



346 THE GUIDING HAND. 

but such was the loss of blood from the several 
arteries, that the surgeon gave no hope of recovery. 

The young skeptic called on his companion. In 
the apparently dying lad he saw the power of that 
religion he had so often attacked. Where argument 
had failed, the calm confidence, the lively hope, and 
the dying joy of his companion, reached success. 
He A\ r ent from that presence a converted soul. 

The lad, however, recovered, but was a cripple for 
life. Giving up the thought of learning a trade, he 
pursued a course of study, entered the ministry, and 
became the well-known and much loved missionary 
to the Choctaws, Cyrus Kingsbury, I). D. The con- 
verted companion became the no less distinguished 
Dr. Joel Hawes, for so many years a preacher in 
Hartford, Coi^n. Two glorious lives dating from the 
chance running of a rabbit ! 

The truth of this story is vouched for by a son of 
one of the three friends, Rev. H. D. Walker, of 
Bridgewater, Mass. 



*o v 



CONVERSION OF COUNT GASPABIN. 

Adolph Monod, one of the most gifted and faith- 
ful evangelical ministers of the present century, 
preached Christ crucified and his free grace, to his 
church in Lyons, France. One Lord's day, preach- 
ing from the text, "God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," 
he spoke of the person of Christ as the true God-man. 



THE GUIDING HAND. 347 

He announced, at the same time, that the next Sabbath 
he should show how men could be saved through 
faith in this God-man. But the authorities of this 
church were full of Catholic and other errors, and 
opposed to a doctrine so truly evangelical. Hence, 
they informed Monod that if he did not omit the ser- 
mon he had announced, they would have him arrested 
and brought before the prefect, and dismissed from 
his office. Monod, notwithstanding, preached his 
sermon, and the authorities made their complaint. 
The prefect demanded the two sermons of the accused, 
and Monod sent them to him. The prefect was a 
Catholic count — Count de Gasparin. He came home 
at evening to his wife, and found the sermons. He 
never liked sermons, especially evangelical sermons. 
But he was a man who discharged faithfully the duties 
of his office. It was necessary that the sermons 
should be read. He came to his wife with the manu- 
scripts in his hand, complaining that he would have 
to give up the whole evening to this irksome and pro- 
tracted liibor. She offered, as her husband's worthy 
helpmeet, to read the sermons with him, so that the 
task might seem to him less tedious. They began. 
They read the first. With every page they grew 
more interested. They forgot that it was evening 
and night. That which was at first an official duty, 
became a service of the heart. They finished the 
first, and eagerly grasped the second. And what 
was the result ? As a magistrate — as a prefect — 
Gasparin was forced to deprive Monod of his place, 
because all the authorities demanded it. But he and 



348 THE GUIDING HAND, 

his wife became evangelical Christians; yes, living, 
joyful, and happy believers in Christ. They found 
that night the pearl of great price, and it has remained 
in the family. Their son, Count Agenor de Gaspa- 
rin, has long been the head and pillar of the evan- 
gelical party in France. 



A STEAY BIBLE. 

A missionary in India was descending in a boat the 
river Gunduck, when he saw near a village a group 
of Hindoos seated on the ground. One of the num- 
ber was reading; the rest were deeply attentive. 
Curious to witness this scene, he landed and ap- 
proached them, when, to his surprise, he found that the 
book around which the circle was gathered was the 
Holy Scriptures. When he made himself known, the 
reader manifested the greatest jo}^. He immediately 
asked many explanations, and while the missionary 
remained in the vicinity, he often sought for him and 
had many serious interviews with him. His faith was 
weak, and he had not sufficient strength to make a 
public profession of faith in Christ. But subse- 
quently he visited the missionary many times at his 
station, traveling for this purpose a considerable 
distance. The result was his entire and sincere con- 
version. Some time afterwards the Hindoo was 
baptized, and his example was blessed as the means 
of bringing into the church his brother, and two or 
three of his friends. 

But whence came this copy of the Holy Scriptures ? 



THE GUIDING HAND. 349 

Some time before, another missionary, passing down 
the same river, had landed and distributed a few vol- 
umes containing the four Gospels and the Acts. This 
man, of a naturally thoughtful disposition, and already 
disgusted with the idolatry in which he had been 
brought up, found in the sacred volume a foundation 
for a better faith. And, as Andrew communicated to 
his brother the knowledge of the Saviour whom he had 
found, so did this Hindoo to his friends ; and the vol- 
ume, apparently cast upon the wind, was made the 
means to several souls of a happy acquaintance with 
the way of salvation. What an encouragement thus 
to toil on, and sow with tears the precious seed in 
faith and hope ! 



THE MOHAMMEDAN BOOK-BINDER. 

When Henry Martyn, during one period of his 
Indian career, was located at Cawnpore, in northern 
India, he resolved to extend his labors beyond the 
soldiers and English residents to whom the regulations 
of the East India Company would have confined his 
efforts, and to be in reality a missionary as well as a 
chaplain. In his "compound" or garden, was a 
chabootra, a slightly elevated platform of masonry, 
such as natives always have in their gardens, for the 
purpose of sitting, in the summer evening, where 
they may catch every breath of air. On this he used 
to gather together on Sundav afternoons all the 
faqueers, or Hindu devotees, of the neighborhood — 
men deformed, filthy, and sometimes depraved, whose 



350 THE GUIDING HAND. 

self-inflicted deformities and voluntary filth were 
accepted as marks of superior holiness. These he 
would address in terms of most earnest exhortation 
on the holiness and purity of the gospel. 

Overlooking this garden, and within hearing dis- 
tance of the chabootra, stood a small kiosk, or 
summer-house, in which several young Mohammedans 
of the city were accustomed to assemble to smoke 
and interchange city gossip. They were always leer- 
ing and scoffing at the young Ferringhee JParde, or 
English clergyman, and his most unattractive and 
unpromising group of listeners. 

Among these young Mohammedans was one who 
distinguised himself by the coarseness and scurrility 
of his remarks. Beinof somewhat in advance of his 

o 

companions in intelligence, he aspired to take the lead 
in abusing and insulting the unoffending chaplain. 
However, one Sunday afternoon, some remark of 
Martyn's appeared to produce an unusual effect on 
the young scoffer. His whole manner underwent a 
change. He seemed to be listening with interest and 
attention, and almost with reverence, so much that 
he drew down upon himself the jeers and taunts of 
his licentious companions. From that day it was 
noticed that his customary seat in the kiosk was 
empty. He was never seen there again, What had 
become of him? 

He was by occupation a book-binder ; and about 
this time he was required to bind a book for one of 
the English residents. The book was written in 
Hindoostanee. As the sheets were passing through 



THE GUIDING HAND. 351 

his hands he glanced at the contents, and was struck 
with their marked similarity in language and thought 
to the addresses he had heard from the chaplain. He 
read it carefully through before returning it to the 
owner. It was a copy of the Hindoostanee translation 
of the New Testament which Henry Martyn had 
recently completed. And the result, under the 
divine blessing, of that "arrow shot at a venture," 
and the earnest perusal of that book, led the young 
scoffing Mohammedan book-binder of Cawnpore to 
become, after long and prayerful preparation, an 
ordained missionary in the church of Christ, and a 
very faithful and able preacher of that faith he once 
despised. 



THE FRIGHTENED ROBBERS. 

It is related that after John Wesley had been 
preaching one winter's morning, at five o'clock, at 
the Foundry chapel in London, a pious young woman, 
who was dressed in white, in returning home, midway 
across the fields, saw two men advancing towards her 
w T ith no good intention, as she judged from their very 
profane language. 

She dropped immediately on her knees, with the 
lantern in her hand, and said, "O, Lord God, thou 
hast promised to be a very present help in time of 
need ; help thine handmaid in this time of danger ! " 

The two men immediately fled, and she went on 
her w^ay, thankful to God for her deliverance from 
unreasonable and wicked men. 



352 THE GUIDING HAND. 

Some time after this, as she was going over the 
field again, to the chapel, she saw a man sitting on 
the fence, looking very ill and emaciated. She spoke 
to. him about his soul. He confessed his wickedness, 
and said that once he came over that field with a com- 
panion, with a design to rob, as they supposed, a 
young woman. On approaching her, the object, 
which was dressed in white, sunk into the earth, 
when they instantly fled, supposing that they had 
seen an apparition. He said that his companion was 
thrown into a fever, and died raving mad, and that he 
had been wretchedly lingering to that time, filled 
with apprehension and remorse. The surprise of 
the man on learning that he was now speaking to the 
same person, as well as her interest in one so providen- 
tially brought under her influence, must be imagined. 
It seemed as if the hand of God had brought them 
together, and that for purposes of mercy ; and the 
opportunity was duly improved in the fear and in the 
love of the Master whom she served. She exhorted 
him to go to the chapel, where he Avould hear of 
Jesus. He did so, and became a Christian. 



BREAD UPON THE WATEBS. 

I was standing by the side of my mother under the 

spacious porch of Dr. B 's church, Glasgow, 

awaiting; the hour for afternoon service, when I 
observed two young men turn a corner and walk 
toward the church. They were dressed in their 
working-clothes, unshaven and dirty, and slightly 



THE GUIDING HAND. 353 

intoxicated. As they passed the church door, they 
assumed a swaggering, irreverent gait, laughed, and 
finally commenced singing a profane song. My 
mother turned to me and said, "Follow those two 
men, and invite them to a seat in our pew." 

I soon overtook them, and delivered my mother's 
message. One laughed scornfully, and began to 
swear; the other paused and pondered ; he was evi- 
dently struck with the nature of the invitation. His 
companion a^ain swore, and was about to drag him 
away. But he still paused. I repeated the invita- 
tion, and in a few seconds he looked in my face and 
said, "When I was a boy like you, I went to church 
every Sunday. I have not been inside of a' church 
for three years. I don't feel right. I believe I will 
go with you." I seized his hand, and led him back 
to the house of God, in spite of the remonstrances 
and oaths of his companion. A most excellent ser- 
mon was preached from Ecclesiastes xi. 1. The 
young man was attentive, but seemed abashed and 
downcast. 

At the conclusion of the service my mother kindly 
said to him, "Have you a Bible, young man?" 
"Xo, ma'am; but I can get one," was his reply. 
"You can read, of course?" said she. "Yes, 
ma'am. "' "Well, take my son's Bible till you pro- 
cure one of your own, and come to church again 
next Lord's day. I shall always be happy to accom- 
modate you with a seat." 

He put the Bible in his pocket and hurried away. 

At family worship that evening my mother prayed 
J 12 I J i , 



354 THE GUTDING HA1STD. 

fervently for the conversion of that young man. 
Next Sunday came, and the next, but the stranger 
did not appear. My mother frequently spoke of 
him, and appeared grieved at his absence. He had 
doubtless been the subject of her closet devotions. 
On the third Sabbath morning, while the conoTesra- 
tion were singing the first psalm, the young man 
again entered our pew. He was now dressed gen- 
teelly, and appeared thin and pale, as if from recent 
sickness. Immediately after the benediction, the 
stranger laid my Bible on the desk, and left the 
church without giving my mother the opportunity 
she much desired of conversing with him. On one 
of the blank leaves of the Bible we found some writ- 
ing in pencil, signed, "W. C." He asked to be 
remembered in my mother's prayers. 

Years rolled on ; my praying mother passed to her 
rest; I grew up to manhood, and the stranger was 
forgotten. 

In the autumn of 18 — , the ship St. George, of 
which I was the medical officer, anchored in Table 
Bay. 

Next day, Sabbath, at the conclusion of public 
worship, a gentleman seated behind me asked to 
look at my Bible. In a few minutes he returned it, 
and I walked into the street. I had arranged to 
dine at " The George ; " and was mounting the steps 
in front of that hotel, when the gentleman who had 
examined my Bible laid his hand on my shoulder 
and beaded to have a few minutes' conversation. 
We were shown into a private apartment. As soon 



THE GUIDING HAND. 355 

as we were seated, he examined my countenance 
with great attention, and then began to sob ; tears 
rolled down his cheeks ; he was evidently laboring 
under some intense emotion. He asked me several 
questions — my name, age, occupation, birth-place, 
etc. He then inquired if I had not, when a boy, 
many years ago, invited a drunken Sabbath-breaker 

to a seat in Dr. B 's church. I was astonished 

— the subject cf my mother's anxiety and prayers 
was before me. Mutual explanations and congratu- 
lations followed ; after which Mr. C gave me a 

short history of his life. 

He was born in the town of Leeds, of highly 
respectable and religious parents, who gave him a 
good education, and trained him up in the way of 
righteousness. When about fifteen years of age his 
father died, and his mother's straitened circum- 
stances obliged her to take him from school, and put 
him to learn a trade. In his new situation he 
imbibed all manner of evil, became incorrigibly 
vicious, and broke his mother's heart. Freed now 
from all parental restraint, he left his employers, 
and traveled to Scotland. In the city of Glasgow 
he had lived and sinned for two years, when he 
was arrested in his career through my mother's 
instrumentality. On the first Sabbath of our strange 
interview, he confessed that after he left church he 
was seized with pangs of unutterable remorse. The 
sight of a mother and a son worshiping God together 
recalled the happy days of his own boyhood, when 
he went to church and Sunday-school, and when he, 



356 THE GUIDING HANI). 

also, had a mother, — a mother whose latter days he 
had embittered, and whose gray hairs he had brought 
with sorrow to the grave. His mental suffering 
threw him on a bed of sickness, from which he arose 
a changed man. He returned to England, cast 
himself at the feet of his maternal uncle, and asked 
and obtained forgiveness. With his uncle's consent 
he studied for the ministry; and on being ordained, 
he entered the missionary field, and had been labor- 
ing for several years in Southern Africa. 

"The moment I saw your Bible this morning:," he 
said, '"I recognized it. And now, do you know 
who was my companion ou the memorable Sabbath 
you invited me to church? He was the notorious 
Jack Hill, who was hanged a year afterwards for 
highway robbery. I was dragged from the very 
brink of infamy and destruction, and saved as a 

brand from the burning. You remember Dr. B 's 

text on the day of my salvation, — 'Cast thy bread 
upon the waters : for thou shalt find it after many 
days.'" ; 

THE MYSTERIOUS UMINMESS. 

The late ingenious Rev. Robert Robinson, of 
Cambridge, was once engaged to deliver "the 
charge" at the ordination of a minister. He exhorted 
him notwithstanding every possible discourage- 
ment to persevere in the work to which he was 
called, assuring him, that in the end, God would 
succeed his labors. With a view to encourage him, 
lie should relate an anecdote which had been lately 



THE GUIDING HAND. 357 

told him, and though the names of the parties had 
been carefully concealed, he had no doubt of its 
authenticity. 

He then stated that a certain minister, being 
about to travel in the country, was particularly 
requested by a friend, to call at the house of a 
farmer, an intimate associate of his early years, and 
a man whom he often yet visited, and to take up his 
abode there for the night. The minister pleaded 
that he was a perfect stranger, that he might be con- 
sidered a sort of interloper, and several other things, 
all of which were overruled by his friend, who 
assured him of the piety, and unbounded liberality 
of the farmer, and promised him a letter of intro- 
duction ; he farther stated that he had often con- 
versed with the farmer respecting him, and, in a 
word, the o*ood farmer would feel his mind much 
hurt, if he passed that way and did not spend a 
night under his roof. Under these circumstances 
the minister consented, and one summer's evening 
rode up to the farmer's gate. 

He found the good man standing near; but 
instead of meeting him with the smile of politeness, 
he demanded in a surly tone who he was. The min- 
ister gave him his name, handed him his letter of 
introduction, and assigned his reasons for paying 
him a visit. The farmer eyed him with suspicion, 
half insinuated that he was an impostor, but at 
length told him he might put his horse into the 
stable, and walk into the house. At first the minis- 
ter hesitated; he almost determined to ride to the 



358 THE GUIDING HAND. 

village ; but on second thoughts he resolved to stay. 
He unsaddled his horse, and walked into the house ; 
and not being asked to walk into the parlor, he took 
his seat with the servants in the kitchen. 

Supper time came. The servants whispered among 
themselves, ik It is a wonder master doesn't ask the 
gentleman into the parlor." At his request, he was 
supplied with a basin of milk. After supper, the 
family was collected to engage in the devotions of 
the evening; the minister followed at the heels of 
the servants, and took his seat near the door, not a 
little surprised at the treatment he received. "The 
farmer read a portion of the Scriptures ; a pause 
ensued ; there was evidently a violent agitation in 
the farmer's breast; at length he asked the minister 
to pray. They knelt down, and the worthy preacher 
forgot his trials ; and, elevated to a high state of 
holy feeling, his prayer was eminent for spirituality 
and power. When he concluded and rose from his 
knees, the farmer, with tears streaming from his 
eyes, stepped up to him, and before the whole fam- 
ily, solicited pardon for the treatment he had given 
him ; assuring him that he had never before so 
treated a minister; and from all that he had ever 
heard of him, he had for him in particular a high 
personal respect ; and finally, that in reference to his 
conduct that evening, it was to himself the most 
mysterious event of his life. He concluded by beg- 
ging him to stay with him a few days, that his kind- 
ness might make up for his past unkindness. The 
minister begged he would forget what had passed, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 359 

assured him that what degree of shyness he had wit- 
nessed should on his part be forgotten, and that his 
enofao-ements would not allow him to stay lono*er. 

O O v CD 

Nothing, however, would satisfy the farmer but 
that the minister would stay one day longer, and 
preach in his house in the evening ; to this he at 
length consented, and went oil* in the morninir, 
attended with the best prayers and wished of the man 
who had received him with so much coldness. 

"And what, my brother," asked Robinson, "do 
you suppose was the result? Xo less than three 
branches of the farmer's family were brought to a 
knowledge of themselves and of the Saviour, under 
the sermon delivered in consequence of this myste- 
rious unkindiicss." 

The whole congregation were deeply impressed 
with so interesting a detail, made in Robinson's best 
maimer : but the effect on the mind of the newly 
ordained minister was overpowering : he blushed, 
then turned pale, fainted, and was carried out into 
the air; the usual remedies were administered, and 
he gradually recovered. The scene was then 
unfolded ; he was the very minister who formed the 
hero of the story ; he had followed Robinson through- 
out till he came to the effects produced by the ser- 
mon ; this he had never heard till then ; and his feel- 
ings were overpowered with joy and gratitude. 

" Deep in unfathomable mines 
Of never-failing skill, 
He treasures up his bright designs, 
And works his sovereign will," 



360 THE GUIDING HAND. 

THE MINISTER AND THE SICK GIBL. 

The following authentic instance of divine direction 
is furnished by the son of the minister referred to; 
who often heard his father relate the circumstance : 

Mr. R , a faithful minister of the gospel as well 

as a merchant, some few years before railroads were 

known, left his native village for the city of P , 

to make his usual purchases of goods. The distance 
of about one hundred miles, was then accomplished in 
two days' travel by stage coaches. When near the 
end of the second day, some twelve or fifteen miles 
from the city, he became impressed with the thought 
that he would not reach his destination that day. He 
tried to dismiss the idea, and could only think that 
an accident would prevent it. However, the stage 
stopped at the last exchange hotel, and almost invol- 
untarily, he said, "I took my carpet bag and walked 
into the hotel, asking for entertainment," — concluding 
to follow the bent of his mind ; not knowing why or 
wherefore. 

Supper was announced ; he was the only guest ; 
and was waited on by a middle-aged lady. At an 
early hour he retired, or purposed to do so, but was 
interrupted by a rap at the door communicating with 
the room next the one he was to occupy. He 
answered the call, when the lady of the dining room 
requested permission to get something in the room. 
After having asked to be excused for the interruption, 
she had scarcely commenced the search, when turn- 
ing around she asked: "Are you not a minister of 



THE GUIDING HAND. 361 

the gospel?" The answer was, "Yes, madam ; and 
why do you ask?" 

She replied that her daughter was lying very ill, 
and very anxious about her salvation. "To-day," 
said she, "I prayed God to send some one to pray 
and talk with her, and the moment you put your foot 
in the dining room something seemed to say, 'he is 
the man, ask him.' " 

Mr. R complied with her request, found the 

daughter very sick in body and mind, prayed and 
talked till near daylight, when she was able to trust 
in the Great Physician of souls, and was made to 
rejoice in his pardoning love. Then it was clear to 
his mind why he was not to end his journey the 
previous day. Such are the ways of Providence 
oftlimes, ruling and overruling when we fail to 
recognize the Divine hand. 



A CHILD'S TEXT. 

Rev. Dr. Milnor was brought up a Quaker, became 
a distinguished lawyer in Philadelphia, and was a 
member of Congress for three successive terms. 
Returning to his home on a visit during his last Con- 
gressional term, his little daughter rushed upon him 
exclaiming, "Papa ! papa ! do you know I can read ? " 
"No," he said, "let me hear you!" She opened 
her little Bible and read, "Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God with all thy heart." It was an arrow in her 
father's heart. It came to him as a solemn admonition . 
"Out of the mouth ( f babes" had proceeded God's 



362 THE GUIDING HAND. 

word, and His Spirit rci3ved within him. He was 
driven to his closet, and a friend calling upon him 
found he had been weeping over the Dairyman's 
Daughter. Although forty years of age, he aban- 
doned politics and law for the ministry of the gospel. 
For thirty years he was the beloved rector of St. 
George's church, in Philadelphia, the predecessor of 
the venerated Dr. Tyng. 



THE TORN HYMN. 

A few years ago a Jewish lady knocked at the door 
of a servant of the gospel, who dwelt in a German 
town. The object of her coming was one of benev- 
olence. The minister was busy, and his Avife received 
the Jewess. In the course of a short conversation 
she discovered her hostile sentiments towards the 
true faith, as well as her ignorance of its doctrines. 
Presently the minister entered, and began solemnly 
and faithfully to speak of the gospel of Christ. The 
Jewish lady boldly confessed her hatred to the doc- 
trine of the despised Nazarine, and contemptuously 
rejected all other except the Jewish faith. As she 
was about to go away, the faithful servant of the 
Lord gave her a Bible, with the earnest request that 
she would read it. She accepted the Bible, but the 
request was disregarded. The Bible was laid aside, 
and considered as quite a useless article ; the dust of 
days, months, and years collected on its sacred, 
unopened leaves. 

But the eye of the God of Abraham watched over 
the Jewish lady, and he thought of her in love. Six 



THE GUIDING HAND. 6b6 

years after our friend's visit to the minister, she went 
out one morning to make a purchase in a neighboring 
shop. When she came home, and was looking at the 
articles she had bought, her eyes fell upon the lines 
of an old hymn in which the things were wrapped up. 
She read, and felt interested in it. The poetry was 
ah; lit a young lady, a portion of whose history was 
related ; it told of a sin into which she had fallen, 
and of the misery which ensued. "I will try to get 
the rest of this poetry," thought the Jewess, "so 
that I may learn the end of this poor young lady." 
She w^ent back to the shop, and among the torn 
paper, the remainder which she wanted w^as found, 
and given to her for a trifle. She hastened home, 
eager to learn the end of the story. But Iioav little 
had she expected such an end : she not only read of 
the misery of the young lady, but also of the way by 
which she was led to Christ, and how in his atoning 
love she found peace and forgiveness. Finally, her 
happy end was described, and how simple faith in a 
crucified Redeemer had illumined her hour of death. 
"Christ ! " said the Jewish lady to herself ; "have I 
not once before spoken of this Christ ? " Suddenly 
she recollected her visit to the servant of God, — his 
earnest request resounded in her ears, — she remem- 
bered his present so long neglected. "I will fetch 
the book which will tell me more about this Christ 
who gave peace and joy to the dying lady." She 
opened its pages, read, and continued to read for 
hours. The book, for six years forgotten, was read 
with all earnestness ; light dawned in her soul ; the 



364 THE GUIDING HAND. 

despised Nazarine stood before her as a rejected 
Saviour. "I will go to the man again who gave 
me the book," thought she, "and learn from him its 
meaning." No sooner said than done. She sought 
out the man of God, who still worked at his post. 
The Lord opened her heart, as he did Lydia's, and 
in a short time she received Christ with joy ; and now 
she counted every thing but loss in comparison with 
the unsearchable riches of Christ. With boldness 
she confessed her faith, endured trials and opposition, 
the loss of possessions and friends. She was bap- 
tized, and became a happy member of the church of 
Christ. "Is not my word like as a fire ? saith the 
Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in 
pieces f" 

THE LOSt BOOK AND THE SAVED SINNER. 

Some years ago a little boy had a present from his 
grandmamma of a little book with verses of Scripture. 
It was bound in red leather and had his name written 
on it. One day, when he went to visit the lions at 
Lynn Mart, his little book fell out of his pocket. 
He was a very little boy, and much troubled at the 
loss of the book, for his name was written on it by 
his grandmother herself. 

The matter was almost forgotten, when a year 
afterw r ard the clergyman of a parish about eight miles 
from Lynn, gave the following history of the lost book : 

He said he had been sent for to see the wife of a 
man living on a wild common on the outskirts of his 



THE GUIDING HANI). 365 

parish, a notoriously bad character. The message 
was brought to him by the medical man who attended 
her, and who, after describing her as being most 
strangely altered, added, "You will And the lion 
become a lamb;" and so it proved. She who had 
been wild and rough, whose language had been violent 
and her conduct untamed , lay on a bed of exceeding 
suffering, patient and resigned. 

On arriving at the house, the clergyman heard the 
following story from the woman herself, explaining 
the cause of the marvelous change : Her child had 
picked up the book and carried it home as lawful 
spoil. Curiosity — or, rather, some feeling put into 
her heart by Him without whose leave a sparrow 
falleth not to the ground — had induced her to read it. 
The Word had been blessed to her, and the under- 
standing opened to receive the gospel truth. Sin in 
her sight had become hateful ; blasphemy was no 
longer heard from her lips. She drew from under 
her pillow her "precious book," as she called it, which 
had taken away the fear of death. 

She died soon afterward, filled with joy and hope 
in believing, having in those portions of Scripture 
found a Saviour to bear the burden of guilt and thus 
present her, clad in his own spotless righteousness, 
before the throne of God. God's providence had 
brought to her that little book to lead her to Christ. 

Who can tell the value of a little book or the 
scattering of a handful of gospel tracts ? The seed 
may seem lost, — forgotten; but what glad surprises 
will the harvest bring ! "Blessed are ye that sow ! " 



366 THE GUIDING HAND. 

LIBEKTY FOE A CAPTIVE. 

A most striking instance of the faithfulness of 
God in fulfilling his promises, and in answering the 
prayers of his saints, is narrated in the JVew York 
Observer, by J. G. Bass, a city missionary. 

In his labors in the King's County penitentiary, 
he found a young man, the son of an English clergy- 
man, educated and cultivated, a child of many 
prayers, whose mother, a woman of deep religious 
experience, had labored to lead her -children to the 
blessed Saviour, and even down through her last 
sickness and dying hour, had commended them to 
God in prayer, especially imploring the blessing of 
the Lord upon this, her eldest boy. 

In the year 1871, he came to America, full of 
hope; spent a month in travel, and through letters 
of recommendation, joined with his intelligence and 
prepossessing appearance, obtained a respectable 
place in a mercantile house in New York. There, 
away from home, among strangers, he forgot the 
counsels of his father and the prayers of his mother, 
listened to the seductions of pleasure, formed sinful 
associations, contracted evil habits, and in less than 
four months from the time he left his father's house, 
became a convicted inmate of the penitentiary, with 
blasted reputation, and ruined hopes. 

But while thus far from home and friends, the eye 
of God was upon the desolate prodigal, and this is 
the story he tells : — 

" I was taken to the prison in company with several 



THE GUIDING HAND. 3(37 

other men, and put in a cell, to await my turn to 
have my hair cut and change my clothes for the prison 
garb. Alone in the cell, I felt my utterly helpless, 
hopeless, characterless condition; I was ready to 
foil ; m}' eye measured the cheerless place, the like of 
which should be my home for months to come. In 
the corner of the cell, I saw a piece of paper, and I 
instinctively stooped and picked it up ; I needed some 
human voice or some printed word then to call me 
back from despair. The paper was the first half of 
Good Cheer, No. 1, having on the first page an 
engraving of ' The Kind-hearted Policeman.' The 
first thing that struck my eye ivas an article from 
the pen of my oivn mother. It brought to my mind 
the image of my dear deceased mother, her smile, 
her counsels, her prayers; it was like a voice from 
the unseen world. As I raised my eyes from reading 
the article, blinded almost as I was with tears, I read 
at the head of the column, over my mother's article, 
these words : ' The last opportunity.' Conviction for 
sin, deep, pungent, seized upon me ; I cried unto 
God in my anguish, and on the Sunday following, in 
the prison chapel, while singing the hymn, — 

1 Just as I am, without one plea, 
But that thy blood was shed for me, 
And that thou bidst me come to thee ; 
Lamb of God, I come ! ' 

I was enabled to cast my guilty soul on the world's 
Redeemer and mine, and find peace and pardon 
through his atonement. God suffered me to go to 



368 THE GUIDING HAND. 

prison, that my mother's prayers might be ansicered" 

J.W was still a prisoner, but his soul was free. 

He served out his sentence, and is now at liberty, 
rejoicing in Christ. The following hymn, which he 
wrote and gave to the chaplain, to read to his fellow- 
prisoners, will tell the story of his humble trust in 
Christ. 

THE HYMN. 

Just as thou art, with naught to plead, 
But that I suffered for thy need ; 
And for thy vilest sin did bleed ; 
Come then, O sinner, come ! 

Just as thou art, no longer stay, 

Hoping thy guilt to wipe away ; 

My care with all thy fears allay ; 

Come then, O sinner, come ! 

Just as thou art, though struggling still, 
With unbelief and evil will ; 
My grace can conquer every ill ; 
Come then, O sinner, come! 

Just as thou art, thy aching breast, 
Shall find in me relief and rest, 
I welcome all with sin oppressed ; 
Come then, O sinner, come ! 

Just as thou art, with all thy need ; 
Thy Father waits to clothe and feed, 
And yearns thy wandering heart to lead ; 
Come then, O sinner, come! 

Just as thou art, do not delay ; 
Yield thyself wholly from this day, 
And thou shalt ne'er be cast away ; 
Come then, O sinner, come ! 



THE GUIDING HAND*. 3()9 

THE INFIDEL AND THE PIEATES. 

A native of Sweden, residing in the south of 
France, hud occasion to go from one port to another 
in the Baltic Sea. When he came to the place whence 
he expected to sail, the vessel was gone. On inquir- 
ing, he found a fishing-boat going the same way, in 
which he embarked. After beino- for some time out 
at sea, the men, observing that he had several trunks 
and chests on board, concluded he must be very rich, 
and therefore agreed among themselves to throw him 
overboard. This purpose he heard them express, and 
it gave him great uneasiness. So he took occasion 
to open one of his trunks, which contained some 
books. Observing this, they remarked among them- 
selves that it was not worth while to throw him into 
the sea, as they did not want any books, which they 
supposed all the trunks contained. They asked him 
if he was a priest. Hardly knowing what reply to 
make, he told them he was ; at which they seemed 
much pleased, and said they would have a sermon on 
the next day, as it was the Sabbath. 

This increased the anxiety and distress of his mind, 
for he knew himself to be as incapable of such an 
undertaking as it was possible for anyone to be, as 
he knew very little of the Scriptures ; neither did he 
believe in the inspiration of the Bible. 

At length they came to a small rocky island, per- 
haps a quarter of a mile in circumference, where was 
a company of pirates, who had chosen this little 
sequestered spot to deposit their treasures. He was 



370 THE GUIDING HAND. 

taken to a cave, and introduced to an old woman, to 
whom they remarked that they were to have a sermon 
preached the next day. She said she was very glad 
of it, for she had not heard the word of God for a 
great while. His was a trying case, for preach he 
must ; still he knew nothing about preaching. If he 
refused, or undertook to preach and did not please, he 
expected it would be his death. With these thoughts 
he passed a sleepless night. In the morning his mind 
was not settled upon anything. To call upon God, 
whom he believed to be inaccessible, was altogether 
vain. He could devise no way whereby he might be 
saved. He walked to and fro, still shut up in dark- 
ness, striving to collect something to say to them, but 
could not think of even a single sentence. 

When the appointed time for the meeting arrived, 
he entered the cave, where he found the men assem- 
bled. There was a seat prepared for him, and a Bible 
on it. They sat for the space of half an hour in pro- 
found silence ; and even then, the anguish of his soul 
was as great as human nature was capable of endur- 
ing. At length these words came to his mind : 
"Verily, there is a reward for the righteous : verily, 
he is a God that judgeth in the earth." He arose 
and delivered them ; then other words presented 
themselves ; and so on till his understanding became 
opened and his heart enlarged in a manner astonish- 
ing to himself. He spoke upon subjects suited to 
their condition, — the rewards of the righteous ; the 
judgments of the wicked ; the necessity of repent- 
ance, and the importance of a change of life. Th^ 



THE GUIDING HAND. 371 

matchless love of God to the children of men, had 
such a powerful effect upon the mind of those 
wretched beings, that they were melted into tears. 

Nor was he less astonished at the unbounded good- 
ness of Almighty God, in thus interposing to save 
his spiritual as well as his natural life, and well might 
he exclaim, — "This is the Lord's doing, and it is mar- 
velous in our eyes." Under a deep sense of God's 
goodness, his heart became filled with such thankful- 
ness, that it was out of his power to express it. 
What a marvelous change was suddenlv brought 
about by Divine interposition ! He who a little 
before disbelieved in God, was now humbled before 
him ; and they who were meditating his death were 
moved to affection . 

The next morning they put him in one of their 
vessels and conveyed him where he desired. From 
that time he was a changed man. From an infidel he 
became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The ultimate effect of this strange sermon upon 
those ungodly men, can only be disclosed in the judg- 
ment : but if in the coming glory of the eternal day, 
it should appear that others who heard him then were 
sharers of the blessing, it would only add another to 
the many instances where the leadings of divine 
Providence have prepared the w^ay for the manifesta- 
tions of divine grace in the salvation of lost sinners. 
The word of grace, proclaimed by a sinner to sin- 
ners, had proved a savor of life unto life to him who 
spoke it, and had melted the hearts of those who 
had long been strangers to the message of salvation. 



372 THE GUIDING HAND. 

FATHER HARDING'S CONVERT. 

The eccentric Father Harding, though peculiar in 
many of his modes of action, speech, and thought, 
was yet in a remarkable degree a man of humble 
faith and prayer, and was often strangely used and 
honored of the Lord as an instrument for the conver- 
sion of sinners. Bold for the truth, firm in his con- 
victions, patient in persecutions, and strong in the 
faith, giving glory to God, he was an ever ready wit- 
ness for the Lord, and his testimony was with power. 

The following anecdote was related by Albion 
Ross, an esteemed minister of Christ, who was some- 
times his companion in labor. He received the story 
from the lips of Father Harding himself : 

Father Harding once attended a meeting in B f 

a town on the banks of the Penobscot river, and while 
there, was moved to rebuke the prevailing worldliness 
and pride which were creeping into the church, and 
eating out the power of godliness like a canker. On 
this occasion, if we mistake not, the burden of hip, 
testimony had reference to the too prevalent practice 
of religious congregations relinquishing that exercise 
of praise which is so comely in the upright, and allow- 
ing this important portion of Christian worship to 
pass into the hands of wicked, worldly, and profane 
persons, who mock the Lord with falsehoods while 
professing to honor him with praise ; and if they sing, 

"I'm not ashamed to own my Lord, 

sing a lie, for they are ashamed both of Christ and 



THE GUIDING HAND. 373 

his words : and whose hypocritical praises, blended 
with dulcet strains of worldly melody, though in an 
artistic point of view they may be excellent, A T ct con- 
sidered as worship addressed to the Almighty and 
ever-living God, are more impertinent than the antics 
of a monkey in the presence-chamber of a king. 

The earnestness with which he rebuked the profan- 
ation of God's worship by those who uttered solemn 
words with thoughtless tongues, and the pointed tes- 
timony he bore against prevailing evils, enraged some 
of the people, and he was forcibly and summarily 
ejected from the house; and two rude men, confiding 
more, perhaps, in man's wrath than in God's right- 
eousness, grasped him by his arms, and dragged him 
down the hill, — he quietly remarking as he went, 
' 'Christ was crucified between two thieves," — hurried 
him to the river's brink, and pushed him clown head- 
long amid the dirt and sand and stones. 

Recovering himself from his fall, he meekly climbed 
the bank, where the two persecutors met him and 
pushed him back once more among the stones. Just 
at this moment a man, who, while employed in an 
adjacent field, had observed their brutal conduct, 
came running to the place, ready to fight, and willing 
to defend any one who was treated with such indig- 
nity and abuse. He reached the place eager to do 
battle, but as he was beginning to interfere, and pre- 
paring for a struggle, he was stopped by Father 
Harding, who exclaimed, "Don't you touch them!" 
and falling on his knees, he began to pray for those 
who so despitefully used him and persecuted him. 



374 THE GUIDING HAND. 

with a fervor and unction known only to those whose 
acquaintance with God is intimate, and whose faith 
overcometh the world. The prayer was ended ; the 
old man was victorious through divine power ; and, 
as of old on that occasion when an enraged multitude, 
filled with wrath at the teachings of the Messiah, had 
thrust him forth to hurl him headlong unto death, — 
"He, passing through the midst of them, went his 
way," teaching and preaching as before — so the old 
man w r ent on in peace, rejoicing in his deliverance 
from his enemies, and preaching salvation far and 
near. 

But this was not the end. God, who sends his ser- 
vants forth to sow the seed, watches and waters it 
himself when the sower's hand is busy in far off fields, 
and it was in his divine purpose to make a blessing 
abound even through such a scene of persecution as 
that. There was a "need be" for that trial, and so 
there is for all the Christian's tribulations, and oh, 
what blessings God will bestow amid them all if we 
will simply hold fast our integrity in obedience and 
faith, and endure all things as he has commanded us 
to do ! Then he can work with us and make our 
defeats victories, and our sorrows joys. 

So it was with Father Harding. Years passed 
away ; the scene at the river bank was only remem- 
bered as one of many instances where he had been 
counted worthy to suffer shame for the . name of 
Christ, and had been called to endure violence for 
his Master's sake; nor did he dream of any special 
blessing on that hour. But one day as he was 



THE GUIDING HAXD. 375 

traveling in a distant locality, he was hailed by a 
stranger who Greeted him with all the warmth of 
Christian love and friendship. 

"I do not know you," said Father Harding. 

' 'Don't you remember when those two men were 

pushing you down the river bank at B , a man 

came running to your defense ?" 

"Yes." 

"I was that man; and when you forbade me to 
touch them, and knelt and prayed for God to bless 
those who despitefully used you and persecuted you, 
I thought in my mind, 'There, I must have just the 
kind of religion which that old man has.' And from 
that time, again and again, these words would ring in 
my ears, 'You must have the same kind of religion 
which that old man had,' until at last I sought and 
found the Lord, and now I greet you as a fellow-pil- 
grim bound for the land of rest." 

Such was the substance of their conversation, and 
the reader can easily imagine what a blessed Eben- 
ezer to the weary pilgrim was this memorial of God's 
o'uidino* o\)odness, and his spacious care. Often in 

COO 7 o 

after years did Father Harding relate the story, show- 
irig how God could make the wrath of man to praise 
him, and feeling, like the apostle, that the things that 
had happened unto him had follen out for the further- 
ance of the gospel, and that thus, in this strange and 
mysterious way, God was pleased to bring home a 
lost sinner who might not have been reached by any 
of the ordinary instrumentalities which could have 
been employed. 



376 THE GUIDING HAND. 

A WORD IN SEASON. 

Mr. Thomas Champness says : Cfc One snowy clay I 
was preaching in Yorkshire on the top of a great hill, 
and there was a family that used to worship in that 
chapel that lived a long way from it. I had not a 
chance to say anything to them about spiritual things. 
There were two young women in the family for 
whom I was very much drawn to pray. I was anx- 
ious to get a word into their hearts about the Saviour. 
This snowy day prevented their return to their farm- 
house after the afternoon service as their custom was. 
Thev had to stay until the evening service, and the 
gentleman they were invited to stay with was the 
same that entertained me. When I went into the 
drawing-room who should be there but the girl about 
whom I had been praying, and praying that I might 
have an opportunity of saying a word to. I felt that 
now w T as the time, and said just a sentence or two, 
and then somebody came in, so that no more was 
said. During the week she wrote me a letter in 
which she said : 'Xobody ever spoke to me about my 
soul, and I had been praying to God that you would 
do so some day;' and the result w T as that she gave 
herself to the Lord Jesus Christ." 

Thousands of unsaved souls are to-day waiting, as 
you, reader, perhaps once waited, that some one may 
say to them a word to guide them in the way of peace. 
Their hearts yearn as your heart yearned in the days 
when you knew not God. They shrink as you shrunk 
from a public avowal of their thoughts and feelings, 



THE GUIDING HAND. 377 

hut they are hungering and thirsting for righteousness 

and for rest. Will you not speak to them some word, 
as God shall give you a word to speak, and trust that 
he will make the message effectual to their present 
and eternal salvation ? 



THE TRACT AND THE OYSTER. 

A professional diver said he had in his house — 
what would probably strike a visitor as a very strange 
chimney ornament — the shells of an oyster holding 
fast a piece of printed paper. The possessor of this 
ornament was diving on the coast, when he observed 
at the bottom of the sea this oyster on a rock, with 
a piece of paper in its mouth, which he detached, and 
commenced to read through the goggles f n j s head- 
dress. It was a gospel tract, and, coming to him 
thus strangely and unexpectedly, so impressed his un- 
converted heart that he said, "I can hold out against 
God's mercy in Christ no longer, since it pursues 
me thus." He became, while in the ocean's depths, 
a repentant, converted, and (as he was assured) 
sin-forgiven man, — "saved at the bottom of the sea." 

Are you doing anything to publish and scatter 
gospel tracts? A tract which costs a penny may 
save a soul. And tracts can be multiplied by millions 
if means are furnished to pay their trifling cost. 
Some can write tracts ; others can publish them eco- 
nomically ; others can pay for them ; others, still, can 
distribute them judiciously ; and so all can be helpers 
in the work, and sharers in tlu blessing. 



378 THE GUIDING HAND. 

THE SUICIDE AND HER BIBLE. 

" When I am weak, then am I strong." 

The late Rev. T. Wills, in the course of one of 
his journeys, preaching at Lady Huntington's chapel, 
in Bristol, from, "My grace is sufficient for thee," 
took occasion to relate the circumstance of a young 
woman who knew and loved the Lord ; but was 
laboring under a strong temptation to put a period 
to her life by drowning herself. The enemy so far 
succeeded as to prevail on her to go to the river, in 
order to put the dreadful plan in execution ; but as 
she was adjusting her clothes, to prevent her from 
floating, she felt something in her pocket ; — it was 
her Bible. She thought she would take it out and 
look in it again for the last time. She did so ; and 
the above-mentioned text immediately caught her eye. 
The Lord applied it with its own energy to her soul ; 
the snare was instantly broken, the temptation was 
taken away, and she returned, blessing him who had 
given her the victory. 

The relation of this circumstance was blessed to 
the conversion of a man and his wife then present ; 
and to completing a similar deliverance. These per- 
sons, it appeared, previous to this time, had lived in 
an almost continual state of enmity ; their habitation 
exhibited a scene of discord and confusion ; and often 
their quarrels would end in a total silence. Some 
considerable time would elapse before a single word 
would be exchanged by them. In one of these 
unhappy seasons, the wife came to the dreadful 



THE GUIDING HAND. 379 

determination of drowning herself. She accordingly 
left her house for the purpose, and came near the 
river ; but it being too light, she feared, on that 
account, she should be detected. She therefore 
knew not where to £0 till it orew darker. She at 
length espied a place of worship open. She thought 
she would go in, and when it was over it would be 
sufficiently dark. 

She went in. Mr. Wills was preaching; and, as 
already observed, related the before-mentioned cir- 
cumstance. She heard with attention; the Lord 
blessed what she heard to her conversion ; and the 
devil lost his ends. She returned another person; 
and when she came home her husband looked at her 
with surprise. Her countenance, which before was 
the index of a malevolent disposition, now indicated 
the temper of a lamb. Struck with her appearance, 
her husband asked her where she had been. She 
told him. He immediately interrogates her, "And 
did yon see me there?" She replied, "No." He 
added, "But I was; and, blessed be Gocl, I found 
his grace sufficient for me also ! " 



WHAT A FLY DID. 

Near by a church lived a very wicked man, a 
rum-seller, by the way, who seemed not to fear God 
or regard man. He despised all good things, and 
loved to do wrong rather than right. It happened 
that the church near him was remodeled, and an organ 



380 THE GUIDING HAND. 

was put in, and there was to he some good playing 
on it, and excellent music by the choir on the "re- 
opening" of the church. This man wanted to hear 
the music, but he did not want to hear the sermon. 
He was puzzled for the time, but finally hit upon 
this plan : he would go into the church, take a seat 
in an obscure corner and listen to the music, but 
stop his ears with his fingers when there was any 
praying, preaching, or talking. So he went in and 
enjoyed the singing and the sound of the organ, but 
when the minister prayed he stopped his ears as 
tightly as possible. When prayer was over, and 
singing commenced, he took his fingers from his ears, 
but stopped them again as soon as the minister began 
reading a chapter in the Bible. While he sat thus, 
self-made deaf, a fly lit on his nose and began to run 
round, and occasionally it stopped and thrust clown 
its bill as if to take a bite from the skin. The man 
bore it as long as he could, and then involuntarily 
brushed the fly oft* with his hand, leaving one ear 
unstopped while he did so. Just at that instant the 
minister read the verse, "He that hath ears to hear, 
let him hear." The words struck him with peculiar 
force ; he thought a moment, unstopped his other ear, 
and listened to the rest of the chapter and to the 
sermon following;. He went from the church with a 
changed purpose, became a good man, and lived 
manv years, trying all the time to do all the good he 
could to others, and to repair the mischief done by 
his former conduct. The improvement in the church, 
the organ, the attractive exercises, were all instru- 



THE GUIDING HAND. 381 

mental in drawing this man in where a good seed 
might be dropped into the soil of his mind, but that 
little fly was also necessary to unstop his ears. 



A STAE IN THE CEOWN. 

A 3^oung lady was preparing for the dance hall, 
and standing before a large mirror, placed a light 
crown ornamented with silver stars, upon her head. 
While thus standing, a little fair-headed sister climbed 
in a chair and put up her tiny fingers to examine this 
beautiful head-dress, and was accosted thus ,^— " Sis- 
ter, what are you doing? You should not touch that 
crown ! " Said the little one,-— "I was looking at that, 
and thinking of something else." "Pray, tell me 
what you are thinking about — you, a little child." 
"I was remembering that my Sabbath-school teacher 
said, that if we save sinners by our influence we 
shall win stars to our crown in heaven ; and when 
I saw those stars in your crown I wished I could save 
some soul." The elder sister went to the dance, but 
in solemn meditation ; the words of the innocent 
child found a lodgment in her heart, and she could 
not enjo}' the association of her friends At a season- 
able hour she left the hall and returned to her home ; 
and o-oiuo- to her chamber, where her dear little sis- 
ter was sleeping, imprinted a kiss upon her soft 
cheek, and said: "Precious sister, you have one 
star for your crown ;" and kneeling at the bedside, 
offered a fervent prayer to God for mercy. 



382 THE GUIDING HAND. 

JUXTA CRUCEM. 

From the cross the blood is falling, 
And to us a voice is calling 

Like a trumpet, silver- clear. 
'Tis the voice announcing pardon, 
It is finished, is its burden, 

Pardon to the far and near. 

Peace that precious blood is sealing, 
All our wounds forever healing, 

And removing every load ; 
Words of peace that voice has spoken, 
Peace that shall no more be broken, 

Peace between the soul and God. 

Love, its fullness there unfolding, 
Stand we here in joy beholding, 

To the exiled sons of men ; 
Love, the gladness past all naming, 
Of an open heaven proclaiming, 

Love that bids us enter in. 

God is Love ; — we read the writing, 
Traced so deeply in the smiting 

Of the glorious Surety there. 
God is Light ; — we see it beaming, 
Like a heavenly dayspring gleaming, 

So divinely sweet and fair. 

Cross of shame, yet tree of glory, 
Round thee winds the one great story 

Of this ever- changing earth ; 
Centre of the true and holy, 
Grave of human sin and folly, 

Womb of nature's second birth. 

HORATIUS BONAR. 






V 






'-. r; 



& "S 






*° x V 









%,#' 

,^%. 






>°' 



% d? 















^ ^ 



-^ " 



W 






*/^ 



& <v. 






.=>' -5-, 






•^ y 









.* 



V> 






^>0 V 



*7^ 



^"V 






* c> 



>0 v 



^ ^ 




3> .V 









^ A- 



.A 



.A' 



^"\ 






.A 6 



/c° N °*y«L 






a°°«* 









^~ 



<r> 4\v 






. 















OB * 



>. 




































^ ' ^\v 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 477 438 3 



Hi 






$31 



■Kl 



Si 



Hi 



3HI 



&3« 



